Hello everybody, I hope you are all well. Thank you for coming to the session on Friday. I wanted to share the book I was reading from on Friday: Undrowned by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. And another text which might be interesting to speak about it, for the next session. It is by Steven Feld, anthropologist and musician, the title is "Places Sensed and Senses Placed“. Note: it is not a must to read the text if you don’t want to /can’t. I am looking forward to next Friday (19th), same time (6 pm) and same space (Munyu, basement) to continue this journey. Feel free to invite people and share this if you think they might be interested. And if you have any feedback, input, ideas or question, let me know. All the best and see you soon, Sophia

Hello everyone, Thanks for joining the workshop last week. I wanted to share a small recording from our humming session at the first workshop. How beautiful we sound together. I am attaching another text by the same author, Steven Feld. He coined the term acoustemology and this is a chapter from a book called "keywords of sound“ about that theory. The term describes sound as a way of knowing. I find it is quite a mind f*** but also very beautiful. For the next session would be awesome to bring a note book and a pen/ pencil. Just something you like to draw/ write with. Looking forward to Friday (26th), same time (6pm), same space (Munyu, basement) to continue this journey. Feel free to share this and invite people if you think they might be interested. And if you have any feedback, input, ideas or questions, let me know. See you soon Sophia

Hi everyone, Thanks for coming last Friday. I attach the PDF of Michel Chion and his three modes of listening that we talked about: Causal, Semantic and Reduced Listening. For the next session we will work with clay to make whistles and listen to some recordings. It will be on Friday (3rd), same time (6pm) at Munyu. Looking forward seeing you. Sophia

Thanks for joining last Friday. So since now there is a holiday this Friday we will postpone the session to next week. I will attach a text which I have read several times these days. It is about a special tree and rain and sound. Very fitting to this holiday. Maybe as a little homework I would like to ask you to write a listening and/or sounding score. It can have any kind of form or style, it can have any kind of topic or theme, any kind of connection or idea, it can refer to any space or place. It can be super short or as long as you like. Feel free to explore your interests through it. But for those haven’t been there I will attach a photo of the one we did as reference. ...and these (other photo) are fired and ready for next session…. Looking forward seeing you soon. Sophia

Thanks for joining last Friday. So since now there is a holiday this Friday we will postpone the session to next week. I will attach a text which I have read several times these days. It is about a special tree and rain and sound. Very fitting to this holiday. Maybe as a little homework I would like to ask you to write a listening and/or sounding score. It can have any kind of form or style, it can have any kind of topic or theme, any kind of connection or idea, it can refer to any space or place. It can be super short or as long as you like. Feel free to explore your interests through it. But for those haven’t been there I will attach a photo of the one we did as reference. ...and these (other photo) are fired and ready for next session…. Looking forward seeing you soon. Sophia

Thanks for joining last Friday. So since now there is a holiday this Friday we will postpone the session to next week. I will attach a text which I have read several times these days. It is about a special tree and rain and sound. Very fitting to this holiday. Maybe as a little homework I would like to ask you to write a listening and/or sounding score. It can have any kind of form or style, it can have any kind of topic or theme, any kind of connection or idea, it can refer to any space or place. It can be super short or as long as you like. Feel free to explore your interests through it. But for those haven’t been there I will attach a photo of the one we did as reference. ...and these (other photo) are fired and ready for next session…. Looking forward seeing you soon. Sophia

Hi everyone, I hope you are doing well. Tomorrow, is the next workshop session. Sadly I won’t be there but V for 5 will step in and do a tour of her exhibition and explore the sound of her objects and materials she used as well as share some of her music. Adam will support her with his stethoscope mic. The session is tomorrow 17th of May, 6 pm at Munyu. Sophia and If you like have a look at this: https://emergencemagazine.org/practice/listening-to-the-language-of-birds/ It is a listening practice by David G. Haskell

Hello, Thanks to V for 5 and Adam for stepping in last week I am looking forward hearing about it. Especially the conversations about the human-nature relation is something I would like to revisit as it seems to me a relationship floored by past lingering ideologies that I have (maybe some have?) embodied and could be interesting to reflect upon in a group. For the next session I am looking forward trying some more communal sounding and listening to explore ideas of the self in a community and then fluid power relationships. Also bring your listening/sounding score if you have one. I would love to get to know/try them. The session is tomorrow Friday 24th of May, 6 pm at Munyu. Looking forward seeing you. Sophia

Hello everybody, I hope you are fine. Thanks for coming last week. We tried automatic speaking as a sounding exercise and it was quite interesting. Also talked about awkwardness. Some of you have asked what a listening /sounding score is. I am sorry that I was unclear. It is an instruction for a listening and/or sounding exercise. Adam developed one after a session which is a good example: Find a space to listen Identify a specific sound Listen to it carefully Transcribe the sound with shapes on a piece of paper Can you see words and letters forming in your shapes? Can you read these out loud? or another example we had in the workshop Respond to a sound you hear with your own sound. Copy it, answer it, have a conversation with it. There is a page from the deep listening project where they had a listening score every day. I’ll post it here for reference maybe it is helpful: https://www.deeplistening.rpi.edu/ayodl/ I attach an image of one which reminds me of the current exhibition @Munyu. If you have one or make one please bring it to the next session. Also the whistles are ready :) I’ll bring them next session. I am thinking of making things a bit more concrete and have been thinking about an exhibition at the end of this workshop @Munyu. This would be at the beginning of October. We would plan and execute things together but also individual work, I think can feature. All still vague. Let me know what you think about that and if you have idea. This is not a must, still the sessions will be open for everyone also if you are not interested in being part of an exhibition. As well we are in conversation with Bizi Bingi about a session at The Clearing in mid June. The Clearing is happening every Thursday at the Mist and is a live radio show with an audience which explores experimental music, and sound, and poetry and many more things. So if you have ideas for that let me know as well. Poetry readings, content, listening scores etc. Next session is Friday 31st of May, 6 pm @Munyu. Looking forward, Sophia

hello everybody, I hope all is well. And thanks for the cool session last time. I felt really excited and exhilarated after it and had so many ideas. And I am looking forward to follow up. Next session we should plan some things for the appearance at The Clearing on the 13th. So come with your ideas if you want to present something or have an idea for the group. Also the listening / sounding scores which we haven't shared we can share (sorry that I didn’t make time for that in the last session) But also if you haven’t thought about anything feel warmly invited. I would also like to float some ideas for the exhibition in October and then of cause do some sounding and listening. Looking forward to Friday 7th, 6 pm at Munyu. Sophia

hello, Thanks for last Friday’s session. We spoke about our body and its sounding abilities and did a slow walk exercise. Here the quote we were reading: “We hear through our skin and feet. We hear through our skull, abdomen and thorax. We hear through our muscles, nerves and tendons. Our body-box, strung tight, is covered head to toe with a tympanum [a drum skin]. We live in noises and shouts, in sound waves just as much as in spaces, the organism is erected, anchors itself in space, a broad fold, a long brad, a half-full, half-empty box which echoes them. Plunged, drowned, submerged, tossed about, lost in infinite repercussion and reverberations and making sense of them through the body." Serres, Michel. The Five Senses. A Philosophy of Mingled Bodies. For this coming session I would like to explore some ideas of multi species sound making. How do other beings make sound? How can we expand our repetoire of sounds? And why is that even worth to explore? I will bring a small text to read together. I will also prepare the recordings from our session to listen to together. This session will happen on Friday 21st, at 5 pm (!!!!!!!! NEW TIME), @ Munyu (as usual). See you soon Sophia

Hello brave people, i hope everyone is well and made it home safely / to a safe place yesterday. The next Friday session can serve as a place to share experiences of the days and listen to each other and sound together if need be. I am adding the Sci Fi story of Ursula LeGuin - The word for world is forest. We mentioned it last week, where humanoid alien people use singing as a form to handle aggressions. somehow relevant parallels to peaceful protest. As well I am adding the chapter body from the book Keywords of Sound. I will print copies of that on Friday. Stay safe for the next days and hope to see you on Friday, 28th June, 5 pm, @Munyu. Sophia

Hello every one, sorry for this late Mail. For today we can revisit the text about body from the keywords of sound book and also try the draft score for a sounding exercise. I will bring copies but also attach the pdfs here. And i formulated a concept for the exhibition. We can speak about ideas and input today. So the workshop is happening today 5th of July, 5pm, @Munyu. Best, Sophia

Listening and Sounding Workshop Exhibition (October 2024 @Munyu)

For the past months we met in Munyu, the basement art space in The Mall. We spoke about listening and sound, how it works, how we perceive it, what it does to us and how it lingers in space and within us. And we listened, a lot to ourselves and others. But we also sounded, found our voices, dealt with insecurities. Now I am trying to figure out how it is possible to bring something into form.

As an exhibition concept I propose to create a sonic sensation in an exhibition space paired with an open format sound performance piece and a study room.

1. exhibition space:
Munyu’s two main rooms shall transform into a space where different sounds and narratives can come together, speak for themselves but also get into conversation with each other and thus create new and unexpected thoughts. For that I can imagine several artworks (any form) dealing with sound and topics from the sound workshop (in what ever way you find coherent) installed in the space. Like in an environment where every creature sounds within their own rhythm these artworks can have their own cycle of sound but will come together and sound together with the other works.
Do you have ideas for that? Artworks that deal with the idea of sound or use sound intentionally? and let’d speak about ideas, they might not be finished artworks but maybe thoughts that you want to bring into form.

2. Open format performance
We have been exploring to sounding together. Our experiences here shall inform a performance score. With open format i mean the structure within individuals can explore their own sound but also feel the presence of a group. How do we construct a performance where every single voice can explore themselves within others. But also how can this score reflect a reality of community living? How can it be an exploration of a real situation that fosters meaningful relationships and explores alternative ways of leadership. And finally how can we communicate this to an audience that is visiting these ideas for the first time in the exhibition.

3. Study room
In the first room we can install a study room, with notes and texts from our workshop but also other materials with connected thoughts on tables.

Hello. i hope you are well. I would like to start the next session with exploring and editing the score that I drafted last week. It will be thinking about how it can function as a performance. What does it do to you? How does it encourage you to sounding and listening. Last session we talked about the exhibition which will happen at the beginning of October. Therefore it would be good to have concrete ideas until the end of this month (26th). So we can start plan the space etc. Please write to me if you like to speak about ideas or present something. Also if you think about equipment you might need etc. I attach a link to V’s community garden. It is where we situated the Sound Of Nairobi library now with some books concerning sound and sound art. I know it is not the same as flicking through a hard copy but still someone might find something interesting in it. It might be interesting to shape some ideas. I am looking forward to the next session on Friday, 12th of July, 5pm (NOTE: we start earlier these days ;) @ Munyu. Best, Sophia

HI people, Last Friday we made a plan for the coming weeks in preparation for the exhibition. I will attach the full plan here. The highlighted dates are the most important. The next session this week, people can share their first ideas for their art works. I will also do a small presentation of sound works and sound artists, as well as have a few sound devices and motors for us to check out. Here is also a location for an e-waste stall in Ngara, which I go to, for those who would like to check it out. The person there is called Timothy. Looking forward to Friday 19th, 5 pm. Sophia

Hi everybody, Thanks for the last session. I will forward you the presentation later that week. Some of the artists we talked about were: - Arseny Avraamov and his symphony of sirens - Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller - Meredith Monk - Lawrence Abu Hamdan - Emeka Ogboh - Annea Lockwood Sound Map of the Danube - Pauline Oliveros (deep listening and ear piece) - Franziska Windisch - Jakob Kierkegaard - Younes Babaali The next session is important. It is for you to present your project to the group that you want to show in the exhibition. It would be good if you bring some kind of material, sounds, mood board, sketches, etc. or anything that can help to explain your idea and your vision. So it is easier for us to imagine what you are thinking about and how it looks and sounds. I will bring a speaker. If you need anything else. Let me know. As we have only this session for presentations. Make sure that you come if you want to show something in the exhibition. If you cannot make it but want to show something write to me so we can figure something out. Next session is Friday 26th, 6 pm @Munyu. Please be on time so you can listen to all the presentation. It is important to all know what’s going on. Also so we can finish in time. Looking forward to this Sophia P.s.: I have to move the workshop gadget session this Saturday to next week. Sorry for that. It will be the 3rd of August. Can that work?

HI I hope you are well. I have put together a folder with some docs for the Exhibition: 1. a sheet where i collected the artworks for the exhibition so far: Please edit the description in case i got it wrong or forgot something. In case you have a development feel free to edit it as well. If it is a major change let us know though. @Natasha and @Ndiangui I have in mind you would also like to show something but you couldn’t make it to the session on Friday. Here is an overview of what the others are planning. let’s be in touch of what you have in mind, please feel free to write to us or present it at the next session. 2. there is a doc with the rough exhibition concept idea 3. the score sheet for the communal score 4. A folder with some of the recordings from our sounding sessions. They might be useful to listen to for the score. Best, Sophia