Futures are not distant endpoints but collective processes that emerge through relational encounters. Yet, many of these processes are politically silenced, with labor systematically invisibilized. In the histories of music and sound art, this has, amongst others, manifested in tonality as a colonializing force and the imperialist construction of the composer as a solitary "genius". Such narratives of isolated creation reflect broader patterns of extractive, linear progress that continue to shape dominant imaginaries of the future. In the context of the current polycrisis—marked by climate catastrophe, rising right-wing ideologies, and systemic inequalities—these narratives are once again revealed as insufficient and unsustainable.
With the theme of »Fellow Futures«, we seek to attune ourselves to the agencies of marginalized voices and silenced resonances. Futures emerge as dynamic, co-constitutive vibrations that meet, interfere, and transform in their mutual becoming. The materiality of sound and the porousness of space offer a compelling model for this potential: they illustrate how connection-making happens not through isolated acts but through ongoing, situated interplay. Sound, with its ability to traverse boundaries and refuse containment, reminds us that identities, histories, and spaces are always-already being made and unmade through encounter.
By embracing the entangled, resonant nature of existence, »Fellow Futures« invites a rethinking of how we imagine, inhabit, and shape our collective trajectories. In amplifying these resonant connections, we open a space for sonic research to contribute to a more just, relational understanding of the futures we create together. In a time when the urgency of transformative connection has never been greater, we listen for futures that emerge not from dominance, but from the ethical recognition of shared becoming.