Talks by SHAPE+ supported artists will come from two musicians who have held short residencies at CTM, to deepen specific aspects of their current work. The Ukrainian artist Heilani will explore the perils and wonders of working with mediaeval music in our times, its transhistoricity and alterity – including 13th century compositions as time dilating black holes, possessed synthesisers exploring the boundaries of divine determinism, and catastrophic polyphony traversing the wartime reality.Together with the art and media scholar Daniel Irrgang, the artists Félicia Atkinson and crys cole will speak on their approaches to activate non-human voices for the new work »Thinking Through the Iceberg«.

AM Kanngieser, Mere Nailatikau, and KMRU will speak with Anita Jóri about their installation »Oceanic Refractions,« touching among other on how the work was conceptualised and created, on the Pacific context in which it is grounded, as well as on the techniques and ethics of working with testimony and field recordings.

Supported by the DAAD Artist-in-Berlin Program, Pisitakun Kuantalaeng will be joined by the specialist in Thai law and politics Eugénie Mérieau to discuss the political underpinnings of his long-term artistic project »The Three Sound of Revolution,« reaching into neighbouring Myanmar through insights from the artist and activist Pinky Htut Aung. The discussion will be moderated by Stefanie Alisch.

Aldana Duoraan, Stas Shärifulla, and Victoria Sarangova will lead a session incorporating sonic, performative, and discussion formats to explore strategies of how to sustain collective identity in the face of assimilation. Each rooted within different ethnicities – respectively Sakha, Bashquort, Oirad-Kalmyk – located in the expansive and heterogeneous territories subjugated by the Russian Empire, the artists will delve into the concept of re-synthesis as a critical approach to rebuilding one’s (sonic) culture by effectively sidestepping the imperial gaze. Hosting will be the scholar Giada Dalla Bontà.

Several inputs into music/dance culture will also take place. DJ and writer Kate Butler will be joined by rapper Hazey Haze (Aaron Hayes); Laura O’Connell, aka DJ Lolz of GASH Collective; and Dara Smith, aka Arad and one half of Lakker in a session exploring the dynamics between Ireland and electronic music-making hubs around the world, including Ireland’s relationship with Britain and the sectarian context of Northern Ireland. In a separate talk, the scholar and avid club goer Luis Manuel Garcia-Mispireta will highlight some of the findings of his new book, Together, Somehow: Music, Affect, and Intimacy on the Dancefloor, which examines how people find ways to get along and share a dancefloor, a vibe, and a sound.

Complementing his performance of »Ex Silens«, part of the long-term project I Am Your Body that investigates deafness, sound, and (artificial) intelligence through participatory research driven by and with d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, Marco Donnarumma will present a discussion on and screening of the short film Niranthea. Assembling the voices of six d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people that are at the core of the project, the film offers a poetic reflection on the unlearning of normative conceptions of sound and body technology.

Goethe-Institut’s »Studio Quantum« will present a series of exploratory talks and groundbreaking performances around quantum technologies and music. Professor Oliver Benson (Humboldt University) will kickstart the afternoon with an insightful introduction to quantum technologies, before being joined by Professor Gesche Joost (Universität der Künste Berlin) to spotlight how quantum technologies intersect with creativity. Professor Eduardo Reck Miranda (ICCMR, Plymouth University) and his colleagues will discuss their research into harnessing quantum computers to create music, including a look at the technology behind Miranda’s live performance later this same evening. Studio Quantum Artist-in-Residence Edy Fung and musician/composer Muiredach O’Riain will share a short performance of new work created as part of Edy’s residency. In the early evening, Eduardo Reck Miranda will perform a concert of Quantum Computer Music with Federico Visi, Maria Aguado, Paulo Itaborai, Dino Vicente, Pete Thomas, and Colin Harrington, showcasing pioneering systems and performances developed by Miranda’s team at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research (ICCMR), Plymouth, UK. The programme is supported by Goethe-Institut, Studio Quantum, and Zeitgeist Irland 24, an initiative of Culture Ireland and the Embassy of Ireland in Germany.