Oscillations. Cape Town – Berlin Sonic Inquiries and Practices | Finnisage

In the organizer's words:

Critical listening is the first step towards an ethics and aesthetics of care and freedom. Discarding listening habits and accepting new sound qualities allows access to other layers of history and experience. Artists from South Africa and Germany share their listening experiences in new sound works. They reveal fractures in post-apartheid society in South Africa, offer forms of transformation and healing and question the ownership of sound in a post-colonial transhemispheric frame of reference.

The title Oscillations refers first of all to the physical space in which oscillations unfold, concentrate and reflect and in which we perceive them audibly. In addition, the title opens up the metaphorical space for translations, transmissions and transformations as forms of sonic engagement with the world, the environment and forms of cultural dialog.

The project is driven by the desire to dissolve economic and cultural hegemonies and to achieve a deeper understanding of differences without invoking stereotypical images. Sounds from familiar and unfamiliar environments are deconstructed and reconstructed, revealing their rich meanings to listeners. Indigenous sound practices and spirituality are combined with the latest technologies and contemporary forms of artistic expression.

In a two-year process, the project partners, the Akademie der Künste, the Centre for Humanities Reseach at Western Cape University and Deutschlandfunk Kultur have created a space for exchange, artistic residencies, collaboration and the creation of new sound works. Seven artists were selected through an open call in Southern Africa and, together with three so-called Catalytic Artists, form the artistic team of the project. Residencies in Berlin and Cape Town enabled research, sound recordings and the development of project-specific technologies for the new sound works. Led by a steering committee formed by the cooperating institutions, all project components were coordinated with each other.

The exhibition at the Akademie der Künste now brings together the newly created sound works. Parallel to this, radio productions have emerged from the research, which will be broadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur. On the opening weekend, the installation works will be complemented and deepened by performances, DJ sets, artist tours and talks.

The Oscillations artists are:

Muhammad Dawjee is a musician, composer, architect, researcher and educator from the Indian Apartheid Group Area Laudium on the western outskirts of Pretoria. He understands improvisation as a research process and is particularly interested in the identities of Brown People(s) living in South Africa.

Garth Erasmus is a visual artist, sound artist and musician. His work focuses on the South African First Nation people, the Khoisan, of whom he is a member. He lives in Cape Town.

Zara Julius is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher and cultural worker. She lives in Johannesburg. Her practice is based on a working methodology of "rapture". Through extensive research, she uses the anarchive andblack sonic in her work to reconstitute time in the face of unfreedoms.

Nkosenathi Koela is an instrument maker and multi-instrumentalist, exploring healing practices through sound, creating a space that manifests spiritually and materially. Koela's transdisciplinary practice includes working as an African indigenous medium, expert and teacher of sound. He lives in Cape Town.

Christina Kubisch began creating site-specific sound installations and mixed-media works after her academic music studies. Her research into electromagnetic waves and other hidden sounds makes phenomena audible that are normally beyond human perception. She lives in Berlin.

Mpho Molikeng is a musician, composer, writer and curator born in Maseru, Lesotho, who plays a range of African instruments such as lesiba, mamokhorong, setolo-tolo, mbira, djembe and others. He lives in Pretoria.

Gabi Motuba is a jazz singer, sound artist, composer and arranger. She lives in Johannesburg. Her main instrument is the voice, which she uses to reflect and explore concepts, ideas and questions.

Neo Muyanga is a Cape Town-based composer and installation artist. His works include new opera, multimedia installation, performance lectures and commercial music albums. His practice is based on archival research and moves between performance and science.

Denise Onen practices sound cultures. She is doing her Master of Music at the University of Cape Town. As a sound designer and composer, her sound art in film, documentary and theater has received prestigious international awards.

Lucy Strauss is a bio/computational artist studying for a PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Kirsten Reese is a Berlin-based composer and sound artist. Her work focuses on the interrelationship between immersive listening, the body, social perception, loudspeaker constellations and electronic media.

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Sun 19.5. finnisage
3 pm Curator's tour with Julia Gerlach (DE), spoken contribution by Nkosenathi Koela (EN)
€ 3 plus exhibition ticket

16.30 Hall 2
Nkosenathi Koela: solo performance / mediation

3 - 6 p.m. Hall 1
Christina Kubisch: I LIKE TO LISTEN, installation, live mixing, on-site support: Paula Schopf

Price information:

Admission price € 9.00 Guided tour costs € 3 plus exhibition ticket Free admission up to 18 years, Tuesdays and every first Sunday of the month Reduced price € 6.00