An initiative of the
Breathless. A Documentary Film Project /
Vùng biên giới. A Theatre Project with Rimini Protokoll /
rádio d-cz. A Radio Art Project /
Vùng biên giới. A Theatre Project with Rimini Protokoll /
rádio d-cz. A Radio Art Project /
Favourite Sounds of Prague
Ars Acustica
Authors: Peter Cusack, Miloš Vojtěchovský
(SWR/DLR/ČRo 2009), 47 min
Broadcasting dates:
07.07.2009, 22:05 (SWR)
11.09.2009, 00:05 (Deutschlandradio Kultur)
10.11.2009, 20:00 (ČRo 3 – Vltava)
An emotional and historical sound topography of Prague. By asking its inhabitants about their favourite sounds, the radio piece creates a multi-faceted portrait of the city: an acoustic snapshot, a diagram of social forces and a memorial to disappearing languages and sounds.
"What is your favourite Prague sound? And why?" These were the questions put to some Prague citizens during March and October 2008. The Prague radio artist and media theorist Miloš Vojtěchovský and the London-based musician and sound recordist Peter Cusack asked people from suburbia as well as inner-city residents, pupils and students, children and the elderly, the visually impaired, workers or politicians, creating a uniqiue inlet to a city gripped by constant transformation since the demise of socialism. For their project “Favourite Sounds of Prague” they collected sounds and interviews which reflect these changes and make them comprehensible to the listener. After all, sounds disappear over the years. And people who think about sounds are able to articulate an unconscious knowledge about the city. Starting from the very basis of radio, namely the joy of listening, a diverse sound-archive emerges, reflecting the diversity of the participants, an acoustic kaleidoscope that markes historial and present-day, personal and ordinary everyday experience palpable through the filter of a variety of private perceptions.
In two workshops Cusack and Vojtěchovský inspired other Prague sound artists and students of the film academy to participate in the project. Their recordings of sounds and conversations can be heard on the website. Any interested person was able to add their own recordings and remarks. Peter Cusack and Miloš Vojtěchovský then composed a radio piece out of this material. As well as being broadcast both in the Czech Republic and Germany, there was a live performance in Prague and acoustic interventions in public spaces: using public communications systems and mini speakers in bars and post offices, tram stops and kiosks, the artists played back the the collected sounds and comments to the city.
PETER CUSACK
born in 1948, works as a sound artist/recordist and musician with a special interest in environmental sound and acoustic ecology. He teaches sound arts & design at the University of the Arts, London - London College of Communication, and is a research fellow at the British EPSCR – Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Cusack has gained international acclaim for his work on the effects of voices, sounds and music in public space and in the broader social, political and aesthetic context.
MILOŠ VOJTĚCHOVSKÝ
born in 1955 in Prague, works as freelance writer and radio producer, curator, media theorist and lecturer for audiovisual studies at the Faculty of Film and Television at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He is co-founder of the free media art projects www.radiojeleni.cz (2000-2003) and www.lemurie.cz (since 2004).
More info: www.panto-graph.net/favouritesounds/
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