INTERNATIONAL SOUND ART FESTIVAL IN SEYðISFJÖRðUR, EAST ICELAND.
From 3 – 6 October 2012, sound artists and composers (with the collaboration with the festival’s partnered institutions and organizations) converted the industrial space of the former Nordursild fish factory into a festival space for sound art and experimental music. Skálar Sound Art Festival was situated on the east coast of Iceland, on a fjord nestled among steep mountains in the village of Seydisfjördur.
The festival presented a wide range of original artistic expressions of experimental music and sound art, offering a comprehensive and ambitious program for three intensive days. There were more than 20 concerts and performances of Icelandic and international artists, including a opening piece with the fishing trawler Gullver NS-12, large and small indoor and outdoor installations, mixed media exhibitions, an audio walk, workshops, and lectures.
Among the highlights of the program we were honored to present the esteemed multimedia and sound artists Asmus Tietchens & Thomas Köner (DE), who performed a concert with new Kontakt Der Jünglinge material. Thomas Köner also performed his acclaimed work ‘Novaya Zemlya’ in the unique surroundings of the permanent outdoor sound sculpture ‘Tvísöngur’ by Lukas Kühne (DE).
The artistic curators of the project Europe – A Sound Panorama, Thomas Köner and Konrad Korabiewski, brought the 10 award-winning international sound art pieces of that project to Iceland for the festival. They assembled these works live into one acoustic composition, creating their sound impressions of 10 different places in Europe. The project took place in collaboration with ZKM – Center for Art and Media (Institute for Music & Acoustics), Goethe-Institut Belgrad and Deutschlandradio Kultur.
In addition the festival featured an exchange-project between nomadenetappe – Kunst & Theorie, and Skálar. A group of artists from Linz, Austria were invited to Seydisfjördur, and for a duration of approximately one week the artists, whose practices mainly focus on sound, worked on-site on various projects, resulting in a hybrid showcase titled ‘Repeat, please…’ which consisted of live concerts, workshops and lectures that took place throughout the festival.
For the exhibition ‘Repeat, please…’ catalog (published by nomadenetappe, Linz in 400 copies) please contact: http://nomadenetappe.net/node/54
SKÁLAR SOUND ART FESTIVAL 2012 – PRESS RELEASE
