Hanoi Undercurrents by LinhHafornow

Hanoi Undercurrents

Podcast

Episode 18 of the TIMEZONES podcast series, co-initiated and co-produced by Norient and the Goethe-Institut. In this episode we travel to the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi and dive into its diverse sounds, noises, and artistic practices. We visit three female sound artists who talk about listening despite noise pollution, changing soundscapes through the past decades, how they collaborate with their peers, and how they cope with ongoing gender inequalities.

Producer’s Note

What does it mean to be a part of a community? A citizen of a city? Can the streets mimic our veins? Can the coursing thoroughfares inflate as our lungs might, heaving in the rarefied schemata the alleys and overpasses trace?

And what of the city’s pulse, the urban throb, the endless effusive clash of chaotic purity – can the indefatigable wash of noise alter our perception, or indeed, shape our ability to perceive? And what of the layers beyond that – the food, the songs, the sayings, the spices, the incense burning in the pagodas, the fish rotting on the shores of the lake, the uncles laughing and smiling, the meanings buried in simple actions.

Can we define an essence that allows us to explain what our city means to us? Can we distill it? Should we?

Hanoi has been shaped by waves of culture, the ripples are still ebbing back and forth as the water is yet to clear. Beneath the surface strong undercurrents play and dance, drawing the daring deeper into its surfeit of heart.

In this podcast episode, you will hear from three cultural creators who call this grumbling behemoth their home. What drives them? What moves them? What power do they draw from this shining capital, perched amidst lakes and mountainous regions, filled with hope and eager to alter expectations?

→ full transcript of episode 18

Credits

A podcast by LinhHafornow
in collaboration with tomes (Tobias Paramore)

Co-initiated and co-produced by Norient and the Goethe-Institut

Featuring: Nhung Nguyen, Ho Tram Anh, Hoan Thu Thuy

Field Recordings by Palmer Keen (Aural Archipelago), Hoang Thu Thuy, LinhHafornow, tomes Music by Tiny Giant and Quách Thị Hồ (song «Hồng Hồng Tuyết Tuyết» at 15:00)

Includes a bonus talk, moderated and produced by Elise Luong, featuring tomes

Artistic Editor: Suvani Suri
Project Management: Hannes Liechti
Video Trailer: Karrl
Jingle Voiceover: Nana Akosua Hanson
Jingle Mix: Daniel Jakob
Mastering: Adi Flück, Centraldubs
Artwork: Šejma Fere
Copy Editing: Kathrin Hadeler

Listen on

→ Listen to further TIMEZONES episodes

Featured Artists

Tobias Paramore (tomes) is an Australian-born music producer and sound engineer. After graduating from Macquarie University, Sydney in 2005, he went on to study further at the Koninklijke Conservatorium in Den Haag, Netherlands. He has worked as a performer, an engineer, and a producer on his own projects and those of others. He works both in the digital realm, and with analog signal processing. He has performed primarily electronic music extensively, both solo and as a part of a duo, all over the world in varied locations. Follow him on Instagram, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Facebook, or Tumblr.

Nhung Nguyen is an emerging Vietnamese sound artist currently based in Hanoi, experimenting across a range of left-field aesthetics and expressions – ambient drone, electro acoustic, noise music and musique concrete, amongst others. Since 2014 Nhung has been making works under the moniker Sound Awakener – and more cinematic, piano-driven projects under her real name. She has worked with international labels such as Time Released Sound (US), Unknown Tones Records (US), Soft (France), Flaming Pines (UK), Fluid Audio (UK), Syrphe (Germany). Nhung has also worked on music composition and sound design for theater, films and video art. Follow her on her website, Instagram, X, or Vimeo.

Ho Tram Anh is an independent musician/songwriter based in Hanoi with various projects under her belt. The trademark of Tram Anh’s compositions are key-shifting melodies and spatial, atmospheric production, influenced by ambient and classical music (her primary musical instrument is the piano). Follow her on her website, Instagram, Facebook, SoundCloud, or Bandcamp.

Hoang Thu Thuy has been working as a sound recordist, sound designer, and mixer for 23 years. After finishing high school in her hometown, Vinh City (province of Nghe An), she studied at Ha Noi Academy of Theater and Cinema (SKDA) and graduated in 2000 in Sound Technology of Television and Cinema. Since graduation, she has been working as a university lecturer on film sound. Follow her on Facebook.

Bonus Talk

Hanoi: Pausing from Change
moderated and produced by Elise Luong

A conversation between TIMEZONES episode producer LinhHafornow, production assistant Tomes and their biggest fan, art manager and writer Elise Luong. Hanoi is set to triple in population. Within its exploding economy and suffocating density, musicians and sound artists struggle to find a sense of space. Hanoi is seductive, with roads that curve around ancient trees, bodies of water that offer respite to toads and culinary delights of all kinds. But the ground shakes with the vibrations of jackhammers, and smog and concrete dust fill the air. We live packed together in each others’ spaces, watching the city hurl towards a consumerist future. With the arts and culture flailing at the periphery, Hanoi’s creatives are swooped up into the chaos. How do we hold onto the sonic worlds of the past? What do artists need as cities morph and expand, modifying possibilities of connection, isolation, and identity? What helps us to reflect?

Hanoi Undercurrents by Elise Luong

Elise Luong was born and raised near Melbourne, Australia, and graduated with a BFA in photography and video arts from Belgium in 2009. After moving to Berlin, followed by Montreal and then Brussels, she settled in late 2016 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Professionally, Elise has moved through a diverse range of contemporary art fields, spending her first years focused on street art and graffiti, working for both commercial and public organizations. After publishing her first book, Street Art Today #1, she chose to widen her scope of curatorial practice to highlight «experience-based» art forms such as performance, contemporary dance, live/experimental music, and installations.

In 2012, when based in Brussels, she co-founded a non-profit organization called Undecided Productions, programming an array of public events, and working closely with artists to develop inclusive platforms for dissemination. The closing of Undecided’s gallery space HIDDEN opened doors for change, and since moving to Vietnam, Elise has focused on cultural exchange projects, such as founding and running the residency program live.make.share. Headed by Elise, Undecided Productions is now registered as Vietnam’s only international non-governmental organisation. As an art manager, she is concerned with the development of production and dissemination opportunities for young creators, particularly those whose work engages with the themes of ecology and gender. In parallel, she also works as a writer, editor, events manager, program curator, and communication designer.

Follow Elise on her website, Facebook, or Instagram.

Playlist

A selection of sounds from the community of music makers and sound artists in Vietnam and also from the Vietnamese diaspora community, including artists from this TIMEZONES episode. Curated by LinhHafornow.

Trailer

by Karrl

The TIMEZONES podcast series plunges into the world of artists and their practices, asking: what does living and working in culture and the arts involve in different countries, cities, and contexts today? The artists’ thoughts on their moods, their social, political, and intellectual realities and their philosophies (of life) have been worked up into experimental audio collages.

The podcasts run the gamut of formats and content, from straight journalism to experimental and documentary approaches, ethnography and fiction, sound art, and improvisation. The TIMEZONES series endeavours to create new artistic forms of storytelling, listening and exchange across the boundaries of geography, time zones, genres, and practices.

The TIMEZONES podcast series is co-initiated and co-produced by Norient and the Goethe-Institut. This episode is supported by Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council.

Biography

LinhHafornow is the stage name of Linh Hà, a Hanoian independent art practitioner focusing on sound art, live performing, and sonic storytelling. Using sounds and music, she wants to create a sonic space to unearth her own way to storytelling where sonic narratives play a very important role. Linh Hà’s approach to music is personal, honest, and visceral. In her work, listeners can find layers drawn from traditional Vietnamese vocal techniques among others, analog synthesizers, and various samples. All these elements are combined to create an intimate but also confrontative listening experience. Her interests at the present are nature/human | human/human (belongingness, collective memory) | non-human/human relations; the present. Follow her on SoundCloud, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, or on her Website.

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Hanoi Undercurrents

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«TIMEZONES» – Episode 18. This edition travels to the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi and dives into its flows of diverse sounds, noises, and artistic practices.

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The TIMEZONES podcast series plunges into the world of artists and their practices, asking: what living and working in culture and the arts involvse in different contexts today? Season 1 with a focus on Nairobi, Belgrade/Sabac/Zurich, Delhi, the Bay Area, and Rio de Janeiro.

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TIMEZONES – Season 2

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The TIMEZONES podcast series plunges into the world of artists and their practices, asking: what does living and working in culture and the arts involve in different countries, cities, and contexts today? Season 2 focuses on Beirut, Montréal, Dhaka, Mt Makiling, and Gaza.

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TIMEZONES – Season 3

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The TIMEZONES podcast series plunges into the world of artists and their practices, asking: what does living and working in culture and the arts involve in different contexts today? Season 3 travels from Budapest to Colombo, Buenos Aires, and Ukraine.

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Published on December 27, 2023

Last updated on April 03, 2024

Topics

City

Gender

Listening

Place

Soundscape

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TIMEZONES

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Listening workshop with children of class 3 and 4 in 2023/24, directed by AGF (photo: KleefeldKlangfeld 2023).

Sonic Literacy: On Listening as Care

Short Essay

by Antye Greie-Ripatti

In her work as educator, the artist Antye Greie-Ripatti aka AGF aims to integrate «listening as an art practice» into school curriculums. In this essay, she reflects on teaching children the skill of listening to build environmental sensibility.

I was about 30 years old when I learned about Pauline Oliveros and «Deep Listening».1

I wish that a teacher in elementary school had introduced me to her work. Perhaps my life would have been significantly different, more meaningful, earlier. But there was no such teacher.

In my experience, when you listen to children, they listen back. I first noticed this with my own child. I never disrespected what my daughter had to say, no matter how small, wrong or basic it seemed, and I observed that I earned the same respect from her. This is such a simple notion. By practicing listening you teach an essential skill: you embody sensitivity, build sensibility towards your environment, and eventually instill the ability to care.

Since 2020 I have been investigating political listening and sound, publishing hybrid projects on rec-on.org. Listening is one of the most fundamental things we do. Possibly more important than we realize or are taught to respect.

In the beginning was a silence, or rather a constant wind.

I live on a subarctic island called Hailuoto in northern Finland where I founded an arts organization, Hai Art, with an emphasis on sound and listening in public and social space.

My work with children has primarily been intuitive. This is how I found out that six-year-olds are magnificent listeners. I undertook a series of listening sessions with pre-schoolers. With prepared field recordings I asked them to close their eyes and listen to bats, wind, leaves and mosquitoes, and their auditory observations were correct and sharp. We carried on re-making these sounds, such as wind and mosquitoes, with our voices. Young children are also the most fearless imitators of sound I have encountered. Using a simple sound editor, we went on to examine the audio waveforms of the sounds we were hearing, then reversed, looped, and edited them. In the past I have taught audio editing to adults; I couldn’t help noticing that with these random six-year-olds, their speed, power of comprehension and readiness of mind was significantly superior to any adult I had worked with.

Inward Listening and Outward Screaming

Currently (2024) I am working with a middle school in Bern (Switzerland) for the project «Kleefeld-Klangfeld» (curated by Salomé Voegelin and David Mollin) with multi-ethnic-cultural children. My creative objective is to develop methodologies on how to integrate «listening as an art practice» into school curriculums. We are conducting listening exercises, inward listening, outward screaming, recording and listening back, listening and narrative, the physics of sound and who listens, what is at stake, how much feeling is allowed to sound out?

In 2024/25, I will host listening sessions at the Oulu Art Museum. The topics span a wide spectrum and include: sound and listening as intersectional feminist practice, introduction to the pioneers of electronic and experimental music, non-hierarchical listening curriculums and more.

How do we «grown ups», often uprooted, generationally injured and removed from the culture of listening, take responsibility for teaching listening?

How do we teach universal ethics, independent of religion, nationality, and other values that divide humans? How do we end up becoming what we are? When did it begin that we were so scared, so conformist, and so inactive about the essential issues we should be fighting for? What if everybody could work together as openly and inclusively as possible to face these challenges? How are these things discussed, and who decides what education and curriculums should deliver?

What role can sonic literacy play in answering these questions?

1. Deep Listening® is a practice created by composer Pauline Oliveros in order to enhance her own as well as others’ listening skills.

This short essay is a part of the Norient Special When the Sound Listens Back, a publication in collaboration with Rewire Festival 2024. It assembles essays and audio pieces reflecting ideas about the importance of listening beyond one’s ear, its ethics, and critical potential. Curated and edited by Philipp Rhensius and Katía Truijen.

Biography

Antye Greie-Ripatti (aka AGF or Poemproducer) is a vocalist, musician, composer, producer, and new media artist. Follow her on SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Youtube, Spotify, LinkedIn, or on her Website.

Links

Antye Greie-Ripatti: «When You Listen ‹It› Listens Back» (Medium)

AGF: kuu-tee listening sessions (Oulu Art Museum)

Published on March 11, 2024

Last updated on August 21, 2024

Topics

Listening

Nature

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When the Sound Listens Back

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Four ears for listening (photo: Stefano della Bella/Wikimedia).

Listening with Four Ears

Essay

by Marie Thompson

One day, when pregnant, our author listened to a song and began to cry unintentionally. In what ways, she asks herself in a new episode of the Sonic Worlding column, are the romanticization of music and pregnancy connected?

Content note: this piece discusses pregnancy and mentions pregnancy loss.

In April 2022, I found myself crying while walking into the city. I was in the second trimester of a pregnancy: an experience that was fraught with anxiety, difficult bodily transformations, gender policing, and hope. Listening to a song I had heard hundreds of times before – Aretha Franklin’s rendition of «I Say a Little Prayer» – triggered an unexpected outpouring of affect. I’m mindful that the figuration of a pregnant person crying for no reason is an unpleasant stereotype, underpinned by the devaluation of feminized displays of feeling. Nonetheless, during this time, music sounded – and felt – different. «I Say a Little Prayer» came closer and landed more intimately than before, causing tension in my chest and my eyes to prickle. Where I had previously been resistant to emoting through music, the ebb and swell of Franklin’s voice, intensified by the instrumentalists and backing singer, allowed me to let go of an ambiguous something.

It isn’t surprising that Franklin’s song sounded different to me, given that pregnancy can literally change your senses. Some experience a heightened sense of smell or taste, while others may develop hearing loss or tinnitus. It is not an overstatement, then, to say that pregnancy changes how the world feels and sounds, transforming our preferences and perceptions.

Although music writing has frequently referenced sounds’ purportedly womb-like qualities,1 there has been limited attention paid to pregnant listeners themselves. Yet, music has often been promoted as a tool of affective modulation during pregnancy. Drawing on common tropes about music’s soothing capacity and its status as a cheap cultural resource, pregnant people are told that music can relieve stress, or help them bond with their (future) child. It has even been suggested as a means of pain relief during labor. As a result, a significant subsection of the pregnancy consumer market consists of curated playlists, CDs, and music players.

Contradictory Sentiments

Both music and pregnancy have been subject to intense romanticization, sometimes concealing their proximity to negative feelings and ambivalent affects. In the case of the former, the oft-celebrated joy and pleasure of music is frequently found in articulations of heartbreak. As a technology of emotion, music draws out catharsis from suffering. Take «I Say a Little Prayer» written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and recorded by Dionne Warwick as well as Franklin during the time of the Vietnam War, it is a song of love and devotion. And yet, the euphoric chorus ends on a contrasting note of vulnerability: «to live without you / will only mean heartbreak for me». As popular music has so often made clear to the point of cliché, love carries with it the threat of loss.

Pregnancy, too, can involve complex and contradictory sentiments. Scans and check-ups are a reminder that the making of new life comes with the risk of loss. This might be the loss of a fetus or embryo, or it may involve the loss of the pregnant person: be it the loss of life that can occur due to infections, blood clots, or high blood pressure, or the loss of self that can occur when you are treated as secondary to the contents of your abdomen.

While I am resistant to trying to «explain away» this listening encounter, it’s likely my own feelings of vulnerability meant that I experienced Franklin’s song more intensely than before. Rather than simply soothing away stress or exerting a calming influence, «I Say a Little Prayer» amplified. In so doing, it transformed my anxiety and ambivalence, illuminating how the messy relations between musical listening, sensation, and bodily and biochemical states can result in an undoing of the familiar: a hearing anew.

1. Examples of this include Simon Reynold’s Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture (2008), David Toop’s Sinister Resonance (2011), and R Murray Schafer’s The Soundscape: The Tuning of the World and Our Sonic Environment (1994).

«Sonic Worlding» is a monthly Norient column. It invites writers and artists from all over the world to to think and speculate with and not only about music. Where most music writing treats music as something that can be categorised and placed in pre-determined boxes (personality cults, end-of-year lists, genres, origins, styles), «Sonic Worlding» is interested in the vast potential of rhythms, ideas, and worlds that are still to be unlocked, attempting to spin new webs of thought spanning the globe. Edited & curated by Norient editor Philipp Rhensius.

Biography

Marie Thompson is a writer and researcher, based in Nottingham, U.K. She is primarily interested in the affective and materialist dimensions of sound and music.

Published on November 21, 2023

Last updated on May 14, 2024

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Listening

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Sonic Worlding

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