Artist Statement
“Language is geological: a process of accumulation and accretion, accompanied by landslides”
Sister Tongues, Farnez Fatemi
Sound is a universal language. Histories, stories, current events, traditions, and emotion are all communicated through sound something I learned in 2018 in Berlin and have witnessed while in Buenos Aires. This work is an ode to what I have heard and continue to hear in Buenos Aires. The soundscape, like the instruments, is a mixture of pieces both created and collected. I invited the audience to contribute to the work because while I am interested in what I hear, I am more interested in what others are able to hear and amplify.
There are three main inspirations for this piece, an experience I had while hiking in China where a bird taught me part of its song through call and response. A sikus making workshop I took in Berlin, led by two Bolivian musicians. And my background in social justice movements through my Quaker roots. It is these inspirations that invited me to think about how sound can build connections like networks of roots and create dialogues to amplify the stories we all want to tell. These thoughts which led me to the question, the core of this project, which I extend to you as a collaborator: what does solidarity sound like to you?