LA SCATOLA NODAR
An album by Rui Costa and Manuela Barile
We are pleased to announce the release of the album “La Scatola Nodar,” as part of the celebrations marking 20 years of artistic residencies in sound art and media, which Binaural Nodar will commemorate in 2026. “La Scatola Nodar” is a work created in 2007 by the founder and director of Binaural Nodar, sound artist Rui Costa, together with Italian vocal performer Manuela Barile.
“La Scatola Nodar” explored the intimate relationship between people and their objects, intertwining memories of past lives, loved ones, and the fragile passage of time.
Centered on personal objects collected from the former home of the Gomes da Costa family in Nodar, dating back to 1863, an installation of objects and live sound was produced during an artistic residency held in 2007, evoking stories that are spoken, silent, and suspended—both physically and metaphorically.
The objects, delicately suspended by nylon threads in an old hayloft, personify human fragility, the interplay between presence and absence, light and shadow, and the melancholic dance of happy and sad melodies.
During the live installation, contact microphones captured subtle sounds produced by everyday objects—crystal glasses, potatoes, nuts, straw—from the upper floor of the hayloft. The live sounds were processed and mixed in real time alongside pre-recorded audio, creating an autonomous, evolving composition that mirrored the flow of memory, life, and death.
“La Scatola Nodar” was part of a broader transdisciplinary project presented in Portugal, Spain, and Italy, exploring instances of confinement, the boundary between the self and the outside world, and the emotional and sensory tensions within the family contexts of both authors
“La Scatola Nodar” is dedicated to the memory of Ilda Duarte Gomes, Rui Costa’s aunt.
Binaural Nodar is a cultural entity supported by the Portuguese Republic – Culture, Youth, and Sports | Directorate-General for the Arts.