Open call for subscriptions:
Nodar Summer School 2012: Documenting and reinventing the memory of a territory

A theoretical and practical residency training program
16 – 22 July 2012 / 7 days / 60 hours
Locations: Rural villages of Gralheira Mountain Range, São Pedro do Sul

1. Orientation

Luis Costa (filmmaker / sound educator and president of Binaural/Nodar)
in collaboration with:
Manuela Barile (vocal performer / video artist and artistic director of Binaural/Nodar),
Gianfranco Spitilli (anthropologist / filmmaker and president of Bambun)
Rui Costa (sound artist and editorial director of Binaural/Nodar)

2. Keywords and recipients

Territory, landscape, community, cultural tradition, documentation, intangible heritage, sound and visual anthropology, sound ethnography, sound art, multi-media installation, land art

Recipients: Students / professionals / interest in social sciences, rural studies, earth sciences, contemporary art, sound and image. Regional or local technicians in the field of culture or heritage

3. Applications:
Applications accepted until April 30, 2012 by sending a CV / biography and letter of motivation to info@binauralmedia.org

Communication of the selected entrants: May 15, 2012
Maximum number of entrants: 12

4. Fees

Registration Fee: 300 Euros, including teaching materials, transportation for field trips, accommodation and food. Payment of 50% until 30 May 2012 and payment of the other 50% until the date before the beginning of the course.

5. Objectives and program

This is a time for the rediscovery of territories, its landscapes and heritage resources, both tangible and intangible. It is also a time of production and dissemination, sometimes massive and chaotic, of audiovisual material related to territories. However, there are many misconceptions on the loose about the what could really mean documenting the real using audiovisual media. We therefore need to reflect, with both depth and patience, upon a series of crucial aspects: what areas of knowledge are useful for documenting territories? which sensory aspects may be related to an enhanced experience of a place? What can and should be given back to the documented communities? How to escape immediate impressions and to capture in innovative ways the deep and subtle meanings of the cultural magma of a territory: its archaisms, changes, contaminations, contradictions, endogenous and exogenous social representations?

This 7-day intensive course offers a critical sharing of some of the methodologies and work practices developed since 2006 by Binaural/Nodar in the Gralheira mountain range (Center Portugal), based on a direct and continuous contact with rural communities and in an exploratory approach in terms of concepts, meanings and used media. The following are some of the issues to be addressed:

• The sense of place: philosophy and aesthetics of landscape. Discussion of authors and works.
• History, ethnography, anthropology and art as tools for multidisciplinary work. Discussion of authors and works.
• The ethics of images and sounds: a critical analysis of visual and sound works.
• The authenticity of communities: how to understand and deal with such representations, mythifications and simplifications.
• The multi-sensory approach to a territory as a way of enriching the experience
• Techniques and practicallities of field work. Planning field work, the role of time, mediation and involvement of local partners. Practice of field work in several villages.
• sound techniques applied to the knowledge of territories: practical exercises of sound recording in landscapes, work envirnoments, oral tradition and music, etc..
• Text, photographic and videographic documentation, digital mapping of information and the forms of integration between different media.
• Design of final multi-media multi-sensory installation.
• Talk with the inhabitants of what has been documented and created and its potential usefulness for the community.
• Organization of final documentation and discussion of future dissemination possibilities.

6. Language Course
The course will be taught in English with translation to Portuguese, Spanish and/or Italian when necessary.

Share / Partilhar

Share / Partilhar

The Chestnut and Honey Feast takes place in Macieira, civil parish of Sul (municipality of S. Pedro do Sul, Portugal), on 12th and 13th November 2011 (Saturday and Sunday).

The initiative, having the primary objective of promoting the local autumn products, especially chestnuts and honey, will also be a presentation of the rich natural and cultural heritage of the region, which will be presented in different forms, combining innovation with tradition: crafts exhibition, gastronomy workshops and exhibition, sound walks, documentary films made in the region, concertinas, traditional dances and songs, etc.

The festival is co-organized by Magaio Villages Network  (and within this, Binaural / Nodar as the entity that coordinates part of the program), Municipality of S. São Pedro do Sul, Macieira Recreational Organization, Civil Parish of Sul and CLDS – “S. Pedro do Sul, the Future is Here”, in partnership with the Parish Councils of São Martinho das Moitas and Covas do Rio.

Binaural / Nodar hosts three activities within the event:

a) A sound walk in the ancient chestnut grove of Macieira, where sounds of falling urchins and leaves will be recorded after a careful listening. This action will be coordinated by Luís Costa and will take place on November 12th from 10.00.

b) Premiere of the documentary “I’m going at your table in Gralheira” by Rogério Nuno Costa, made from and artist residency hosted by Binaural / Nodar in September 2011 and that brings together the documentation for a wide variety of gastronomic interactions carried out in the parishes of Manhouce and Candal (municipality of São Pedro do Sul).

c) Documentary “Voices of Magaio # 1″ by Luis Costa, coordinator of Binaural, that brings together video excerpts from the women songbook collections o the Magaio Villages (Gralheira mountain range, São Pedro do Sul), made between 2009 and 2011 in the villages de Sequeiros, Nodar, Rompecilha, Candal and Manhouce. This documentary is the first of a series of documentaries directed by Luis Costa from aspects of local oral tradition.

Those interested in participating in Chestnut and Honey Festival with an exhibitor to promote and market their products should register until November 4th (Friday), at the office of the Associação Aldeias de Magaio Rua de Camões, N 6 – 1, Dto. Frente (São Pedro do Sul) or via email: ana@binauralmedia.org.

For more information please phone +351 232 723 160 (Magaio Villages Association).

COMPLETE PROGRAM
XIII Chestnut and Honey Festival
Macieira, Sul – São Pedro do Sul (PT)
12 e 13 November 2011

November 12 (Saturday)

Traditional Singing and Dancing Group “Os Pienses”
Time: 14:00

Workshop “Chestnut in the culinary arts”
(Free admission / Coordination: Sara Pinto)
Time: 14:30

Promotion of the Magaio Villages’ exhibitors. Local gastronomy: Candal (Corn flour and vegetable soup) + Covas do Monte (Honey Doughnuts)
Time: 15:30

Traditional Singing and Dancing Group “Os Pienses”
Time: 16:00

Welcoming ceremony by local dignitaries and tour to the exhibitors
Time: 16:30

Documentary “I’m going to your table in Gralheira”
(With the presence of the director Rogério Nuno Costa)
Time: 16:45

Bring your Concertina and Traditional Magusto (communal chestnut roasting)
Time: 17:30

Traditional Dinner
(Registration: 926809612)
Time: 20:00

Popular Dance Party with Live Music
Time: 21:00

November 13 (Sunday)

Hiking Tour + Chestnut Trees’ Planting + Chestnut grove Sound Walk
(Registration: 919257865)
Time: 10:00

Traditional Lunch
(Registration: 926809612)
Time: 12:30

Workshop “The Honey Cycle”
(Free / Coordination: José Gomes and Engª Rachel)
Time: 14:00

Documentary “Voices of Magaio”
(With the presence of director Luis Costa)
Time: 14:30

Lourosa da Trapa Folklore Group
Time: 15:15

Promotion of the Magaio Villages’ exhibitors. Demonstration of the linen cycle (Rompecilha) + Crafts Show (Manhouce)
Time: 16:00

Civil Parish of Sul Folklore Group
Time: 16:45

Bring your Concertina and Traditional Magusto (communal chestnut roasting)
Time: 17:30

Closing
Time: 19:00

Share / Partilhar

The Audio Mostly Conference provide a venue to explore the unexploited potential of audio in computer-based environments, for example game contexts, and aim to help open up this area of thinking by bringing together game designers, audio experts, content creators, and technology and behavioral researchers. Through this forum, varied experts could discuss developments and new potentials for audio in many areas such as entertainment, health and fitness, education, industrial training, serious gaming, etc. This is also a venue to present sonic solutions to development and design challenges in low resolutions scenarios or environments where screens are unavailable.

Audio Mostly 2011 will happen between September 7^th and 9^{th ,} 2011 and will be hosted by the Center for Informatics and Systems at the University of Coimbra. The conference will take place at Campus II. The conference main AM’11 venue will be at the “Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia” main building. Binaural/Nodar is an acknowledged sponsor of the conference.

Luis Costa, president of Binaural/Nodar is one of the two key-note speakers of the conference, along with the renowned UK field recordist Chris Watson, and will present an interactive sound conference entitled: “Sound as a tool for community engagement ”.

Additional Information on AM’11, here.

Share / Partilhar

The geographic scope of the collections developed or to be developed by Binaural / Nodar includes territories that the Portuguese geographer Orlando Ribeiro integrated in block of mountain ranges located south of the Douro river and north of the Mondego river, including municipalities belonging to the district of Aveiro (Castelo de Paiva, Sever do Vouga , Vale de Cambra), Viseu (São Pedro do Sul, Castro Daire, Lamego, Cinfães, Resende, Vila Nova de Paiva, Vouzela, Oliveira de Frades, Tondela, Mortágua, Santa Comba Dão, Penedono, Sernacelhe, Tondela, Satão) and Guarda (Aguiar da Beira).

As part of the annual feast of the village of Covas do Monte (municipality of São Pedro do Sul), Luis Costa, coordinator of the “Memory Archive of Beira-Douro Mountains”, will present on September, 25 at 17:00, some video excerpts of traditional women songs from Aldeias de Magaio (São Pedro do Sul), made ??between 2009 and 2011 in the villages of Sequeiros, Nodar, Rompecilha, Manhouce and Candal.

Share / Partilhar

In our hyper-visual modern world, where we are constantly bombarded with visual information – television, advertising, etc. – we often forget how to listen. The workshop participants will be guided to “re-tune” their ears to direct their attention to the extremely rich sonic world around them, to listen actively and imaginatively, not just listening passively. Participants will then use their ears and technological tools to create a sound composition using as instrument the sounds surrounding Retiro da Fraguinha (São Pedro do Sul, Portugal).

For inscription in the worskhop, please contact Tel. +351 232 723 160, email: info@binauralmedia.org | ppnaterra@gmail.com

An intuitive composition created by Jez riley French with Luis Costa (coordinator of the Nodar Artist Residency Centre) & the Nodar landscape itself & the young clarinetist Joana Silva. Joana literally deconstructs the piece ‘Solo de Concours’ composed in 1901 by Henri Rabaud whilst walking through water, wind, snakes, dogs, brush cutters, & aircraft crossing the sky overhead on the way to fight bush fires. Rabaud, a composer who labeled himself as conservative often was known to say ‘Modernity is the enemy’ and this expression gained an unexpected acuity with the profusion of new noises in the ancestral landscape of Nodar during the recording of the piece.

Having given Joana some minimal ideas for how she should approach the journey through the landscape & the music, none of us expected that she would spend over 2 hours slowly walking & exploring small sections of Rabaud’s piece. It is the simplicity of the idea for this piece combined with the openness & focus of Joana’s playing that made the day so memorable.

Thanks to Carina Martins & João Rodrigues for documenting the day
Photographs & design by JrF

p&c by the artists 2010
engraved glass egcd035 / edições nodar nodar002

Share / Partilhar

The Nodar Artist Residency Program for 2010 has a single unifying theme: the river Paiva. Throughout the year, from winter to autumn several multidisciplinary artistic projects (which have sound as a key element) will be developed on a contextual perspective related to the various geographical areas of the river, from its source to its mouth.

Patrick McGinley (US/EE), Marjia-Liisa Plats (EE), Luis Costa (PT) & Tiago Carvalho (PT)
Art Project:
“Reventant: Paiva River” | Phonography and Improvised Music

‘Revenant’ is an ongoing project with open membership that focuses on site-specific acoustic actions. All sounds originate from materials found in-situ, and from interactions with the space itself. All activity is acoustic, and performances are given with no amplification. Thereby relative sound levels and spatialization are dictated by the space itself, co-habitated by performer and spectator until the boundaries between the two dissolve. The name revenant derives from a concept of spatial memory or, more specifically, of the long-term gestural memory of space; the ability of a location to retain an imprint or trace of activity or energy that has been present therein.

Artists working with the revenant project are always on the lookout for new and inspiring spaces in which to continue our explorations and the overall development of this project. The revenant project also looks to encourage open-ended collaboration, and initial sound explorations by individuals perhaps working with the medium for the first time. In this way the assertion of the ‘artist’ as ‘virtuoso’ is broken down and explorations of the instinctual nature of sound become possible. The Paiva River project is an ideal opportunity for a next step in the revenant: sound project – an extraordinary environment with a strong history interacting with a group of artists new to the space and potentially new to sound exploration.

Artistic Biographies:

Patrick McGinley (aka murmer) is an American born sound and performance artist who has lived and worked in Europe since 1996. He has composed works for several theatre performances, including the works of his own company, as well as performing live soundworks for others. In 2002 he co-founded “framework”, an organization that produces a weekly radio show on London’s “resonance104.4fm”. Murmer’s most recent solo work, “we share a shadow”, was published in late 2007 by The Helen Scarsdale Agency in San Francisco. In 2008 Prele Records published the first document of the collective revenant: sound project, entitled revenant:topolo. Revenant:sound comprises explorations in site-specific sound actions, performances, presentations, and workshops, and has been a main focus over the past two years.

http://www.murmerings.com

Marja-Liisa Plats is a young Estonian Visual artist and singer. She has been working in illustration for children books and since 2007 has developed some performance and visual arts projects such as To the Roots (2010), Needle (2009), Mr Picture (2008), Things You don´t talk about (2008), Soap (2007) and Ö-letters (2007). As a traditional and experimental singer she is part of Vaikuse koosolek, a group of four Estonian singers who released their first album in 2010 (“Kassikontsert”).

http://liiso.planet.ee/

Luís Costa is a founding member and currently the president of Binaural / Nodar, the organizations that manage Nodar Artist Residency Center, a space devoted to media arts in a rural context. Having a long standing interest on the new media arts (since 1991), Luís Costa started to write articles and recensions in several fanzines and blogs. He has been a regular collaborator of contemporary arts and rural development magazines ([up]arte, Aldeia, etc.). Between 2004 and 2006 he directed the first Portuguese blog fully dedicated to sound art (Binauralia). Within the scope of Fronte[i]ras 07 – International Meeting of Transdisciplinary Arts, organized by Binaural and Alg-a (Galicia, Spain), he coordinated the lecture and debate sessions with the presence of the participating artists and invited theorists. Since 2008, he coordinates the “Aldeias Sonoras” (Sound Villages”) project, an educational program that consists on the sound mapping of rural areas with the participation of primary and secondary school students.

Tiago Carvalho is an Environmental Engineer with an interest in the area of sound. He is presently finishing his Master in in Nature and Environmental Philosophy. He has developed research in Envorimental Acoustics, Soundscapes and Urban Planning, Aesthetics and Landscapes. Since 2004 he has collaborated with Radio Zero, a Portuguese experimental radio station, where he produced several shows.

Share / Partilhar

Withing the context of the collaboration for Paivascapes # 1, the municipality of Arouca (PT) commissioned Binaural / Nodar a sound piece based on the sound recordings made in the Gralheira Mountains and along the Paiva River, to be broadcasted during the event “Crops Fair -” Living the farming life ” which runs from 23 to 26 September 2010 at the Monastery of Arouca.

The one hour sound piece, entitled “Echoes of Arada” could be heard through the sound system placed around the Monastery of Arouca during the all course of the fair.

Share / Partilhar

Rui Costa – “Sightseeing for the Blind in Aveiro”
Estúdio Performas, Aveiro (PT)
Installation dates: 18 – 28 August, 2010 (Wednesday to Saturday)

Sightseeing for the Blind “is a project based on a sound walk through a city.

The experience that a tourist has of a city is largely determined by the randomness of the impressions on the edge of consciousness, a permanent mapping between what one sees and desires, preconceived ideas, memories, etc.. It is intended that the project uses this mental process as a starting point for an artistic creation.

The sound recording of a city that has seen by the first time incorporates this thought process in a very evident way: By registering the sonic environment of the place, many subjective aspects are also captured: decisions on where to go, what places to avoid, how long to stay in one place, how fast walking, preconceived ideas of what one wants to record and so on.

The project begins with a phase of “sound tourism.” With the help of a tour guide, some routes will be defined that will be traveled and recorded with the aid of a pair of binaural microphones. Along the route impressions, moods, mental associations and decisions will also be recorded. This information will be used later to create a score or a series of instructions for the second stage of the work, which may consist of a composition or a sound installation.

The first step of this project focused on the city of Lisbon, and culminated with the publication in August 2009 of a CD with a sound composition. Under the will of the artist in making new variants of the same project in several cities in Portugal and abroad, a second version of the project will be developed in August 2010 in the city of Aveiro.

More information about the artist:
http://www.binauralmedia.org/news/en/people/board/rui-costa

Artistic Director: Rui Costa
Production Director: Luis Costa
Production Assistant: Carina Martins

Share / Partilhar

The educational project “Aldeias Sonoras” (“Sound Villages”) which consists in recording and mapping the acoustic heritage of rural areas by young people of the regions where the project is developed, has been following the river Paiva during its 2010 edition, integrated in the activities of “Paivascapes # 1.

After having having passed the municiplaities of Moimenta Beira and Vila Nova de Paiva, the project returns to the municipality of S. Pedro do Sul (where the project had its first cycle in 2008/09) for a set of recordings to be made in July and August 2010 by young people on vacation from the Paiva’s riverside villages of Nodar and Ameixiosa.

Finally it is noted that the sound recordings of this 2010 edition have started to be updated on the site http://www.aldeias-sonoras.org

Share / Partilhar

Fifth Cycle of Artist Residencies of  Paivascapes #1
Castro Daire, São Pedro do Sul and Arouca Municipalities
15 – 28 July 2010
Jez riley French (GB)

The Nodar Artist Residency Program for 2010 has a single unifying theme: the river Paiva. Throughout the year, from winter to autumn several multidisciplinary artistic projects (which have sound as a key element) will be developed on a contextual perspective related to the various geographical areas of the river, from its source to its mouth.

Jez riley French
Art Project:
Without Title | Phonography, Photography

Using self built & commercial hydrophones, contact microphones & conventional microphones, my intention will be to capture an emotive impression of the Paiva River – including an in-depth exploration of the architectural spaces both created by the river (natural) and along its banks (manmade). The aim of this project is to bring out a combination of my simple personal experience of taking explorative and joyous journeys along the river and a re-stating of hidden detail contained in the many facets of the river and its connected structures. Surface vibrations, both relatively static and those influenced more heavily by the flow of the river, will form an essential aspect of this work, alongside photographic images capturing further uncovered details of the environment in question.

Coming as I do from an area of England that is criss-crossed with waterways of various types: rivers, streams, canals etc – water has formed an important aspect in my development as an artist using field recording methods. I intend to use my time at Nodar working not only on the core sound work & accompanying images but also placing some of the recordings & images into a series of photographic scores – visual notations for field recordings & ensemble.

Artistic Biography:

Jeremy Riley (aka Jez Riley French) was born in England and has been a sound and visual artist with a diversified work since the late 70’s. He is freelancer as a reporter of experimental music, photography and sound arts, and has collaborated with ‘The Wire’ magazine; he is often invited to give conferences in several art schools (Leeds School of Contemporary Art & Design; Hull School of Art and Design). He has published numerous audio CDs and organizes and directs several workshops. He has been presenting audiovisual performances throughout England, Austria, Check Republic, Germany and Japan.

http://jezrileyfrench.blogspot.com/

For additional information on Paivascapes #1, click here

Share / Partilhar

Workshop “Analog Flows: Listening to an other Era, Working with Magnetic Tape”
Estúdio Performas , Aveiro (PT)
Dates: 28 – 30 June 2010 (5.30 – 10.30 p.m.)
Direction: Rinus Van Alebeek (NL)
Fee: 30 Euro per participant

Rinus Van Alebeek is an electronic musician and performer born in Holland in 1956. He comes to music relatively late, having published two books in his home country under the pseudonym of Philip Markus, the first of which, published in 1991 in the Netherlands received the prize for best first novel. His approach to musical improvisation is radical, and often based on sounds captured on their many trips through the U.S., Europe and the Maghreb countries. Rinus Van Alebeek using simple sound capturing  systems like microphones connected to old Walkmans and dictaphones. During its concerts he mixes and processes many of its tapes with the help of a mixer and an effects pedal, creating powerful lo-fi sound collages between noise and pure poetry.

The workshop will be pretty much filled with working on the recordings made by the participants. Rinus will not introduce the different types of recording gear used by colleagues in the field, nor will he fill the hours and ears with theories on soundscapism or other subjects. Best is if the participants arrive at the workshop with ten minutes of recordings made by them. They have to be analogue. The participants and Rinus will listen to the recordings and he will comment these recordings and offer critics, comments, nonsensical remarks, allusions, accusations, proposals, predictions, alternatives, help and honour.

Additional Information:

http://www.zeromoon.com/rinus/
http://www.binauralmedia.org/news/en/workshops/analog-flows

Artistic Direction: Rinus Van Alebeek
Production Direction: Luís Costa
Production Assistant: Carina Martins

Share / Partilhar

Coordinator: Rui Costa
Price: 20 Euros per attendee
Capacity: 12 participants

Rui Costa, sound artist and co-artistic director of Binaural/Nodar, will coordinate an workshop entitled “Tuning your Ears and Composing the World”, which is part of Binaural/Nodar’s workshop program on exploratory sound.

In our hyper-visual modern world, where we are bombarded with constant visual media… television, advertisements, etc… we have forgotten how to listen. Students will be guided to “re-tune” their ears to actively pay attention to the rich aural world around them, to listen actively and imaginatively, and not just passively hear. They will then use their ears, creativity, and new set of tools to create an audio composition using the world around them as instrument.

The laboratory offers an introduction to:

• Methods of directing the ear towards detailed sonic perception
• The use of sound to examine the qualities of the surrounding space and a person’s perspective of it
• Methods and tools for recording the sound environments
• Methods for organizing and creating a sound library
• An historical perspective on sound art and the use of field recordings in music
• Basics of sound physics and music composition theory
• Practical approaches to composing music with field recordings

Participants will develop a collaborative sound project based on the collection of sounds in public spaces of Viseu’s historical centre.

Additional information:

http://www.binauralmedia.org/news/en/people/associated-artists/rui-costa
http://www.binauralmedia.org/news/en/workshops/field-recordings

Artistic Director: Rui Costa
Technical Assistance and Production Coordination: Luís Costa
Production Assistant: Carina Martins

Share / Partilhar

Football Sound Narratives
Social Specificities of a Universal Game
www.binauralmedia.org

Binaural/Nodar (PT) announces an Open Call for Submissions to an Online Edition of Sound Works

Deadline July 8th, 2010

Football is commonly referred as an interesting field for social analysis of some functional aspects of contemporary societies. Issues like the production of winners and losers, the dynamics of organized supporters’ activities and rituals, the specificities of professional and amateur football leagues, the economics and politics of team management, sponsorship and TV deals, the players’ bodily performances and their impact in the creation of role models for youths, the formation and sharing of football stories and myths, the class and ethnical divisions amongst participants, or the exalted nationalism in an era of worldwide competitions, have been the source of recent anthropological / social research.

Many of these issues have significant aural characteristics that can be made evident through the use of field recording and/or sound composition techniques.

Within the context of the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, Binaural/Nodar announces an open call for a web-based audio edition, through which field recordists, sound artists and/or experimental composers are invited to submit new or previously edited/composed sound works that deal with the role of football (a.k.a. soccer) in the formation of political and socio-cultural identities.

At the close of the open call period, 11 (the number of players in a team) works with a maximum run time of 10’00’’ each will be selected and will be presented through a web-based edition to be online after July 15th, 2010.

The selection of the works will be curated by Binaural/Nodar’s associated artists Rui Costa and Duncan Whitley, and will be based on the quality of the submitted work and supporting texts, and the work’s adherence to the proposed theme.

Links to the curators’ biographies:

http://www.binauralmedia.org/news/en/people/associated-artists/rui-costa

http://www.binauralmedia.org/news/en/people/associated-artists/duncan-whitley

Please provide:

1. Link to your Audio work: Audio files are to be submitted as 16-bit .wav or .aiff files with a maximum run time of 10’00”. MP3’s or other compressed files will not be accepted. Provide a link to the URL of the audio file on your personal webspace; or use a file transfer service (Send Space, Send This File, Sound Cloud, etc.).

2. One text file including the artist’s biography and website, a statement about the audio work (summary of diary entries, dates/locations/geo coordinates of the source sounds, working process, description of techniques, a short essay on the social/anthropologic aspects of the piece etc.), identity of and contact information for the author.

3. Optionally: A link to a set of photos describing the recorded locations, the working process, etc.

For submitting the sound works and for questions on this open call please send an email to Luis Costa (luis@binauralmedia.org).

Share / Partilhar