The Institute for Postnatural Studies has a wonderful new seminar coming soon called Sound Ecologies and Ways of Listening, coordinated by co-founder Yuri Tuma and special guest Natasha Thembiso Ruwona. It’s a virtual seminar consisting of 6 sessions to happen every Tuesday from From Nov. 5th to Dec. 17th, from 18:00 to 20:00 (CET/Madrid time). Price is 250€.
Sound ecology is the entanglement between the multiscalar and cosmic possibilities of exploring the noises, songs, voices, cracks, echoes, silences, and the crashes of our planet and immense Universe. Sound does not only happen outside our ears but also deep within our internal and biological human experience.
Earth’s symphony extends far beyond the ozone layer, weaving its way into the very fabric of life and the cosmos. From the tiniest microorganisms to the vast expanse of matter, we are constantly transformed, both mentally and physically, by the sonic and cultural vibrations of our urban and natural environments. Yet, these intricate entanglements often go unnoticed by a culture fixated on the visual, failing to recognize listening as a powerful tool for self and collective care. By Giving attention to the sounds around us, we can unlock exciting possibilities for forging new systems of kinship and interconnectedness.
What happens when we try to understand the planetary siblinghood between all sentience through the way we listen and communicate to the diversity of what is the “other”? By delving into the exploration of multiple fields of research like sonic technology, listening methodologies, queer theory, colonialism, field recording, and interspecies communication we will collectively shift our perspective towards the Phonocene, a vision of the future that proposes sound and active listening in the center of an era, a new era of expansive care, that resists capitalism’s hunger for growth, a slower era that promotes radical ecological change.
Through theory, artistic practices, active listening sessions, and meditation we will collectively engage in critical dialogues that will expand our notion of a postnatural ecology in an anthropo-oculocentric society.