Ramallah – (A.M. Qattan Foundation):
On Saturday 12th October 2019, the Science Studio/Educational Research and Development Programme of the A.M. Qattan Foundation opened at its headquarters in the Ramallah Recreational Complex, an exhibition on sound and its phenomena entitled "Echo", with the participation of many interested individuals and families.
Echo is an interactive scientific, community and artistic exhibition on sound and its various phenomena, complementing a month-long march of teamwork, panel discussions, technical and artistic workshops, providing extensive coverage of sound as a material and phenomenon in various contexts, with the aim of raising the audio culture by attempting to interpret sound from musical and physical perspectives.
The exhibition includes interactive and illustrative exhibits, divided into three sections which overlap, namely the physics of sound and hearing, the sound scene (soundscapes - natural and urban sound environment), and the science of sound in respect to music and musical instruments.
In terms of the content of the exhibition, the Director of the Science Studio Dr. Nader Wahbeh, explained the idea initially centred around sound from a physical point of view through scientific exhibits, but the content has evolved to include the cultural and social aspects as well.
With regard to the results that the public will discover when visiting the exhibition, Wahbeh said: “The exhibition is the result of long research efforts in the field of acoustic culture, and how to get out of the shell of sound as physics to sound as a social and cultural concept," pointing out that the exhibition includes exhibits on the physics of sound, as well as musical aspects of sound.
In addition to the above, Wahbeh stated that the exhibition includes physical and social definitions of sound, citing back to the past, and see definitions from Avicenna, Al Kindi, Al Farabi and others, pointing out that the definitions provide a different content from sound.
"We have endeavoured a research trip on the subject of sound physics, to lead us to the audio landscape and develop the content of the exhibition through a series of research, readings, intellectual meetings and models” said exhibit developer Hiba Burqan.
Technically, Burqan explained that the content of the exhibition went through several stages, including the stage of reflection, followed by modelling; a pilot phase with the public, until the team reached the decision to produce the exhibits. Throughout these phases, a group of musicians, volunteers and instrument makers have enriched the content of the exhibition
Burqan added ‘the exhibition will include definitions of sound and physical explanations and applications, in addition to the station "Sound Scene", which highlights the role of sound in various places around us, and its impact on our lives, and finally visitors will pass the musical sound station.
It is noteworthy that the exhibition Echo, launched its first performance ‘Roles' on Tuesday, 8th October 2019. The performance was the result of an exploratory workshop on theories of the first Maqam music, adopted from the book "Roles in Music" by Safi El-Din al-Armawi. The exhibition will be accompanied by a range of events during the month of October as follows: https://bit.ly/2p8HJ9O