Europe – A Sound Panorama

»Europe – A Sound Panorama« (premiere, 2011)
European competition, workshop and concert

“Europe – A Sound Panorama” is a Europe-wide call for proposals for a cooperative project under the artistic direction of media artist Thomas Köner.

With Susanna Caprara, Katrinem (Katrin Emler), Francesco Giomi, Konrad Korabiewski, Stefan Malešević, Etienne Noiseau, Tamer Fahri Özgönen, Softday (Mikael Fernstroem & Sean Taylor), Pablo Sanz Almoguera, Ladislav Železný
Cooperation project by the Goethe Institute Belgrade, ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustics Karlsruhe, Third Channel of Radio Belgrade, Ars Acustica Group of the European Broadcasting Union, Deutschlandradio Kultur

Europe – a sound panorama is the title of a project by the Goethe Institute of Belgrade, Deutschlandradio Kultur, Radio Belgrade, the European Broadcasting Union's (EBU) Ars Acustica Group, the Institute for Music and Sound at the Centre for Art and Media Technology in Karlsruhe (ZKM) and the director and media artist Götz Naleppa, calling for contributions by European sound artists to create their sound impressions of a place in Europe, which will be assembled into an acoustic composition. Each approximately five-minute recording from the disciplines of sound art, radio art and electroacoustic music should convey an impression of the particularities of the different parts of Europe. Out of the total of 186 contributions from 25 European countries the best entries have been nominated by an international jury

• Susanna Caprara, dalla notte al mattino (Italian)
• Katrinem Emler, gaits in albufeira (German,*1969)
• Francesco Giomi, Alla Carta (Italian,*1963)
• Konrad Korabiewski, Skeyti (Danish,*1980)
• Stefan Malešević, Hinter den Knochen (Serbian,*1981)
• Etienne Noiseau, Tramuntana (French,*1978)
• Tamer Fahri Özgönenc, Musique Cologne
  (German/orig.Turkish,*1987)
• Softday (Mikael Fernstroem & Sean Taylor),
  Hypoxia Hibernalis (Irish)
• Lisa Streich, Playing Berlin (Swedish,*1985)
• Ladislav Železný, Five Minutes (Czech,*1979)

The entries submitted range from finely captured audio landscapes and dense acoustic conglomerates depicting the multitude of sounds in an urban space, to rhythm montages, strolls and the occasional light-hearted portrait of a region. The sounds encompass the church bells and cowbells so characteristic throughout Europe, the crunch and squeak of ice floes and snow mounds in Iceland, various sounds of water, underground mining noises, the typical spectrum of urban transport (underground trains, cars, bicycles), electrical vibrations, birds, all sorts of languages, kitchen noises and still atmospheres. 

The characteristics of the artist's selected venue or of his/her native country are often revealed through the sounds chosen, the ambiance and the technology or aesthetics applied. The call for contributions was disseminated to a wide audience through the Goethe Institute, the EBU, and the e-mail lists and Web pages of participating institutions and organizations. Out of the total of 186 contributions submitted from 25 European countries, an international jury has now selected the ten best entries. 

The winners will be invited to a workshop in Karlsruhe in October 2011, where they will develop a European sound panorama from their works with the prize-winning sound and media artist Thomas Köner. This panorama will be presented at the ZKM and other venues on 22 October and broadcast by participating radio stations.