Sound is memory, testimony, and sometimes just a boring hiss inside one’s flat. From Stolpersteine to deep-sea mining – this dialogic essay reflects the potential and pitfalls of sound as an introduction to the new publication «Where Sound Becomes Witness» with Rewire 2025.
In a world where voices compete but rarely connect, deepening divides and ecological crises demand urgent attention, Where Sound Becomes Witness asks: how can listening and sounding become acts of collective witnessing and transformation? Through essays and curated sound pieces, we explore how sound can cut through the noise to bear witness, inspire solidarity, and reimagine our shared reality. Curated and edited by Philipp Rhensius and Katía Truijen.
- Quotation by Xenia Benivolski, Rachael Rakes
«If clocks impose order, music defies it».
Interview by Forensis Collective, Katía Truijen, Philipp RhensiusWith their performance «The Drum and The Bird» at Rewire festival 2025, Forensis and Bill Kouliglas unearth the echoes of colonial violence in Namibia – amplifying erased voices and the land’s testimony. A conversation about how sound can make history audible.
Short Fiction by Lutivini MajanjaVisiting an old friend becomes a journey through sound, memory, and change. Inspired by the pounding bass of Kenyan artists Lord Spikeheart and Slikback, both performing at Rewire festival 2025, this short fiction piece reflects on old routines and what inevitably shifts.
Essay by Radna RumpingWhen voices merge, what remains of the self? This essay lingers in the tension of a fleeting moment – between the urge to sing and the weight of silence.
Short Essay by Zeynep Burça Oral, Mark IJzerman, Katía Truijen, Giada Dalla Bontà, Philipp RhensiusSound can be listened to, but what do you hear when the sound listens back? This collage essay weaves together responses from sound artists and theorists, exploring the reciprocity of listening and the agency of sound itself.
Soundride by Manuel Suárez Parias, Tembe Laboratorio SonoroA sonic immersion in the daily life of Juan and Nerio, two bicycle delivery drivers in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. // Una inmersión sonora en la vida diaria de Juan y Nerio, dos repartidores en bicicleta de Rappi en la ciudad de Bogotá.
Soundwalk by Nicolás Gutiérrez García, Tembe Laboratorio SonoroA sonic immersion into the waters that flow through Bogotá, narrated by both human and non-human voices of Colombia’s capital. // Una inmersión sonora en las aguas que atraviesan Bogotá, narrada por las voces humanas y no humanas de la capital de Colombia.
Sound Piece by Maria Frederika Malmström, Desert KitesBy thinking about and with sound, we experience the world through embodied practices. In her mesmerizing sonic essay based on field recordings in a protest-struck Cairo, our contributor asks: How are bodies, things, and cityscapes interconnected?
Short Essay by Rim Jasmin IrscheidThe term tradition has often reinforced an essentialist relationship to origins. In an essay inspired by the «OneBeat» residency program, Rim Jasmin Irscheid is struck by musicians using musical heritage as empowerment.
Essay by Agostino QuarantaTaking cues from his interdisciplinary and research-based project Turbo Sud, visual artist and music producer Agostino Quaranta unearths the almost forgotten memories of electronic experiments made with pizzica pizzica, in the Southeast of Italy.
Short Essay by Maha ElNabawiFor musicians living and performing abroad, it can be a challenge to avoid being exoticised and framed in an aesthetic prison. The Egyptian musician Mohamed Abozekry has reconciled the traditional and the avant-garde in his music.
Where Sound Becomes Witness
Where Sound Becomes Witness
in collaboration with
