Ramallah – (A.M. Qattan Foundation):
The Science Studio/ the Educational Research and Development Programme/ A.M. Qattan Foundation organised a workshop entitled “Soundscape Composition” over four days, with the participation of a group of artists and musicians, in addition to the Studio staff.
This workshop is part of the ongoing preparations for the sound and music exhibition due to open in October, 2019.
The workshop aimed to understand the meaning of soundscape as a concept and to understand the phenomena of environmental sounds. Throughout the workshop, sounds that exist in nature and are taken for granted are explored and identified in alternative ways, thus encouraging participants to critically listen to their environment. The workshop also aimed to inspire critical ideas related to the urban or natural soundscape.
On the second day of the workshop, the Finnish artist and composer Timo Tuhkanen, spoke about his projects which link musical instruments and plants and shared techniques for exploring the different sounds produced by plants in response to environmental and climatic changes. Tuhkanen’s projects include ‘The Land Singing’ and ‘ARK for Seeds’ which aim to connect human beings with the sounds they make such as music. His projects also explore the effect of the relationship between humans and music on seeds, plants’ growth, movement, and reactions, in addition to the effect of plants and their gasses on the human mood.
The workshop included listening sessions and walks in the city of Ramallah and its rural surroundings, to gain a more nuanced understanding of the city’s soundscape, and to collect different audio recordings to be used in the upcoming exhibition.