Meira Asher: The Politics of Sound Art

Podcast

The uncompromising work of Israeli sound artist Meira Asher has been portrayed by Norient from time to time (see here or here). In this podcast she talks about her militant approach to music making and her aim of providing alternative information through sound art. She presents a few of her artworks such as «One Blanket Lost» on Nigerian girls being prostituted in the European sex business. A podcast from the Norient exhibition Seismographic Sounds by Thomas Burkhalter.

Quotes from the Podcast

#militarization

«In the last few years I’ve been working mainly on one subject: militarization and trying to reduce it.»

#activism

«I do not very much believe that music by itself can do the job. I think you also need to start acting and to be an activist while doing art.»

#uncompromising

«This is about channeling the experience of people through a non compromisive sound work. So it is much beyond music.»

#catharsis

«It is a mean way to reach a form of a deeper understanding, some form of catharsis.»

#information

«With these radio pieces I can offer young people a good alternative information as opposed to what they are being almost forced to listen to in school.»

«One Blanket Lost»

ONE BLANKET LOST by meira asher

Biography

Dr. Thomas Burkhalter is an anthropologist/ethnomusicologist, AV-artist, and writer from Bern (Switzerland). He is the founder and director of Norient and the Norient Festival (NF), co-directed AV-performances and documentary films (e.g. «Contradict», Berner Filmpreis 2020 + Al-Jazeera Witness), and is the author and co-editor of several books (e.g., «Local Music Scenes and Globalization: Transnational Platforms in Beirut», Routledge, «The Arab Avant Garde: Musical Innovation in the Middle East», Wesleyan University Press). He teaches regularly at universities, and runs workshops for arts institutions. Since 2022 he produces the Norient Mixtape for Swiss National Radio SRF3. Currently, he is working on his new music duo «Melodies In My Head», and on the podcast series «Long Take: Life as an Artist». Follow him on Instagram, Research Gate, Academia.edu, Bandcamp, Spotify, or Meta.

Published on August 21, 2017

Last updated on August 11, 2020

Topics

Activism

War

Utopia

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Seismographic Sounds

Seismographic Sounds: Podcasts

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Loneliness in the Mix

Mixtape

by Kateryna Zavoloka

Ukrainian electronic artist Zavoloka produced an experimental sound piece accompanied by selected speech fragments from Olimpia Splendid, Ali Gul Pir, Ethiopian Records, Graeme Miller and Leila who expressed their thoughts on the subject of loneliness. What we hear is an acoustically rich dynamic minimalism of narrative soundscapes. Strong beats which turns text into meditation, powerful bass which converts speech into contemporary mantra. From the Norient exhibition Seismographic Sounds.

Loneliness (Introduction from Seismographic Sounds)

Loneliness: the stereotypical topic when western societies are being discussed. Around the clock we are sitting alone in front of computer screens, or we are rushing through the city center carrying headphones. Now everyone is an artist, an individual, someone great; within online social networks this self-staging is taken to the extreme and many of us are suffering from burnout. Despite all of this, the phenomenon of loneliness remains ambiguous: sometimes it stands for separation and is considered dangerous, and other times it is an escape from the chaos of everyday life. In music, orchestras face economizing and festivals prefer to book DJs and solo entertainers instead of bands with a large number of members. The world’s musical hits and trends are often created in bedrooms and living rooms, where musicians exchange files online without meeting and jamming together. Music videos continue to periodically write the great master narrative of European loneliness. At the psychologist’s office, in the supermarket, or in a rainy downtown city we encounter lonely and lost people everywhere. But in this chapter, we also learn about musicians’ (successful) strategies for alleviating loneliness: by touring in American DIY communities or – paradoxically – on the Internet.

Biography

Kateryna Zavoloka (Zavoloka) – Ukrainian experimental electronic music composer, sound artist, sound designer, performer, graphic designer from Kyiv. Zavoloka mainly explores digital and analogue sound synthesis and combines it with Ukrainian ancient folk songs and traditional instruments. Follow her on Spotify, SoundCloud, BandCamp, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or Youtube.

Published on September 07, 2017

Last updated on August 11, 2020

Topic

Loneliness

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Seismographic Sounds

Seismographic Sounds: Mixtapes

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Facing Racism and Sensationalism

Podcast

by Ziad Nawfal

Hamed Sinno is the lead singer of the Lebanese alternative rock band Mashrou’ Leila. In this podcast he talks about belonging, identity, and representation. And he explains where he is facing racism and sensationalism when doing music as a Lebanese artist in a global context. A podcast from the Norient exhibition Seismographic Sounds, written and produced by Ziad Nawfal.

Quotes from the Podcast

#belonging

«We are abandoned from Beirut for the most part.»

#identity

«I try as much as possible to avoid questions of my own identity. When it comes to music I prefer a modular, performative writing, that I love so much for its playfulness. When you are writing, identity becomes more a hindrance than anything else.»

#representation

«The thing that is questionable for me is this idea of speaking for other people outside the band; speaking for Lebanese youth which is such a ridiculous category, like there is one singular youth.»

#racism #stereotypes

«There is always this narrative about the Arabs as Islamists, as fanatics, as terrorists, and then: the artist is the exception. I do feel like that’s racist.»

#gender #sensationalism

«The other part that is a bit strange is this insistence on addressing my sexuality for press purposes. There is some sort of sensationalism that is to happen around this idea of an out-gay musician in Lebanon. The idea of being reduced to these things is very problematic for me. When I wake up I think about my writing. I don’t think about being gay.»

#jazz #Arabmusic

«I grew up in a house where there was a lot of jazz, there wasn’t any Arab music. The only Arab music that I had when I was growing up was Fayruz’ Kifak Inta, that cassette, because my father used to play it for my grand mother when she was dying and he was singing along to her when she was lying in bed.»

#message

«We don’t pick subject matter for any particular reason, just write about the things that we like and the message is literally just the lyrics and the music. It’s not like the lyrics and the music referring to a bigger message that we are trying to communicate.»

Biography

Ziad Nawfal is a Lebanese DJ, radio host, music promoter, and producer who has been making himself busy in the Beirut underground for nearly three decades now. He got his start in a legit role, playing music on the city’s government station Radio Liban. Always existing on the periphery of the station, and proudly flouting its rules, Nawfal programmed a show with a DIY ethos, playing lesser-known tunes from indie, psychedelic and experimental circles. He later became a DJ and promoter around the city, continuing to discover the hidden alternative scenes of Lebanon and the wider Middle East. He’s been active ever since, using his radio shows, as well as his record label Ruptured, to join up the eclectic range of sounds going on in the region. Follow him on BandCamp, Instagram, Mixcloud or on his label Website.

Published on August 10, 2017

Last updated on October 06, 2020

Topics

Belonging

Othering

Queer

Race

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Seismographic Sounds

Seismographic Sounds: Podcasts

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sounds

Meira Asher: The Politics of Sound Art

Biography

Topics

Specials

Loneliness in the Mix

Biography

Topic

Specials

Facing Racism and Sensationalism

Biography

Topics

Specials

films

images

sounds

words