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Soundwalks
Soundwalks is an
interdisciplinary informal
education project that explores
human acoustic environments
and their contexts. The
project activities, mainly
interdisciplinary workshops,
are aimed at children and
youth from small towns in
Kuyavia-Pomerania Province.
As part of the project an audio
map of the region is being
created. The project is curated
by Katarzyna Jankowska and
Marta Karalus.
S
oundwalks are primarily based
on field recordings but also relate
to psychogeography,
acoustic geology and soundscapes. According
to Canadian professor Raymond Murray
Schafer – who defined the term “soundscape”
– our acoustic environment is polluted,
and the primacy of vision in western culture
blunts our sensitivity to sound. That is
why Schafer advocates “ear cleaning” – a set
of practical exercises that include walks involving
focused listening, even with the exclusion
of the eyesight; initiation of the
sounds we hear; and keeping audio diaries.
So-called sound walks are especially recommended
to explore the identity of places.
the project
The aim of the project is to create a sound
archive – the sound map of participants’ immediate
surroundings. As the project progresses,
it involves more and more interaction,
integration and exchange of “musical
experiences” between young explorers living
in various places that are different in character.
Professional musicians, sound engineers
and audio experimentalists lead workshops
teaching children sound engineering and
mastering as well as making them alert to
the music of their surroundings. The effects
of joint and individual work by the participants
are regularly presented at audio exhibitions
in Toruń. The project investigates the
use of music and sound in education and culture
and promotes knowledge about sound
and its influence on living organisms.
To sum up, Soundwalks include: interdisciplinary
workshops led by artists and
educators; sound walks (focused listening);
the creation of a sound archive of the region;
audio exhibition; a publication to sum up the
project; workshop scenarios.
target groups / methods
The project targeted children and young people
from small towns and villages in Kuyavia-
Pomerania Province, locations that offer
little in the way of cultural education and