Radio That Matters – the European project dedicated to experimentation between the performing arts, acoustic research and accessibility – enters the heart of its journey, reaching the production phase of three new performing arts works that are created as accessibles to both people with / without visual impairments thanks to a collective participation process between artists and people with and without visual impairments. Each artistic partner (Baltic Circle, Parallele and Short Theatre) identified an artist with whom to realise this performance in collaboration with national project partners and other contexts identified during the course of the project. The three works will have the characteristic of being displaced in time and space, and will converge in the RTM Festival, a nomadic format that will travel in the three festivals (Short Theatre, Baltic Circle and Parallèle) and ‘radio’ disseminated via Listening Biennale.
The artists involved are:
- Alessandro Bosetti, in collaboration with ASP Sant’Alessio, produced by Short Theatre / AREA06
- Maud Blandel, in collaboratio with ASLAA association, produced by Parallèle
- Ellen Virman & Mia Takula in collaboration with Verna Vilppula and Marja Mikola, produced by Baltic Circle
ALESSANDRO BOSETTI
Una memoria di suoni
collective creation workshop
A journey between inside-and-out, using sound as a connecting and tuning tool, of evocation and imagination. The composer and sound artist Alessandro Bosetti invites participants to the collective creation of a ‘Palazzo della Memoria’, a physical and imaginary space that collects the memory of sounds connected to life stories.The workshop is addressed to blind and visually impaired people and is conceived as a collective experience in which real and imaginary sounds can be mixed in a path of creation of ‘sound memories’, which will become material for a performance/installation of noises, sighs, melodies and words, to compose a collective story of sounds. A partner in the project is ASP S. Alessio – Margherita di Savoia, a historic institution in Rome that carries out activities aimed at the autonomy and social inclusion of blind and visually impaired persons.
Alessandro Bosetti is a composer and sound artist with a particular interest in the musicality of language and the voice as an autonomous object and expressive instrument. His works set up a dialogue between language, voice and sound within complex tonal and formal constructions, often marked by an oblique irony. He builds surprising devices, often linked to the medium of radio and a tireless reflection on the relationship between music and language, to question aesthetic categories and listening postures. He has received commissions from prestigious festivals such as the Festival D’Automne in Paris, Eclat Festival in Stuttgart, Festival Les Musiques in Marseille, and has received numerous awards in particular for his radio art work (Prix Palma Ars Acustica 2015, Prix Phonurgia Nova 2013, Prix Hörspiel de La muse en Circuit 2003, Hörspiel des Monats ARD, 2015).
ELLEN VIRMAN & MIA TAKULA
Hevosen silmin – Through the Horse’s Eyes
audio work
Hevosen silmin – Through the Horse’s Eyes is an audio artwork that conceptualises the world from a horse-centred perspective. The piece consists of two separate parts: one depicting the experiences, emotions, and consciousness of horses, and the other highlighting the possibilities horses offer to expand the sensory experiences and life sphere of a blind person.
Both parts of the piece are interwoven with the perspective of a horse. Equine researcher and ethologist Verna Vilppula presents research findings on horse emotions and communication. Paralympic equestrian Marja Mikola describes her experiences as a blind horse person.
Are horse emotions similar to human emotions? How do horses perceive the world? What is it like to be a horse in a human world? How does a horse take a blind person into consideration?
Ellen Virman works diversely in radio, performing arts, and music. They have worked as a sound designer, lighting designer, technical producer, and solo artist under the name Eilien. Virman is inspired by combining documentary and fantasy and making societal topics accessible. Their audio work “Purjehdus ja pakomatka” (in Engl. Sailing and Escaping)competed for the best radio documentary of the year at Prix Europa 2022. “Eläinharha – Eläimet eivät puhu” (in Engl. Animal Illusion – Animals Do Not Speak), made with Mia Takula, was Yle – the Finnish Broadcasting Company’s nominee in the same category in 2023. This September, a six-part audio series titled “Taylor Swift (My Version)” is being released, analysing the significance of the superstar to her fans over the past two decades.
Mia Takula (b. 1975) is an author, documentarian, and journalist born in Ostrobothnia. She has worked in the art and media field for over 25 years. Takula’s main themes include the intrinsic value of animals, nature, the eco-crisis, and humanity. Despite her strong subjects, Takula aims to encourage rather than blame, seeing the possibility for change. Takula has produced books, documentaries, TV scripts, TV series, hundreds of magazine articles, photography, audio works, and short films. This September, her third non-fiction book, “Eloonjäämisopas” (in Engl. Survival Guide), dealing with the eco-crisis and survival, will be released. Her previous work, “Susien mailla” (In Engl. In the Land of Wolves), received the Pro Animalia award.
MAUD BLANDEL
collective creation
Maud Blandel, a long-standing partner of Parallèle, will be continuing the meeting with members of the ASLAA association – promoting sports and recreational activities for people with visually impairements – that began in January 2024 with the presentation of her choreographed piece L’Œil nu at the Ballet national de Marseille.
The aim is to embark on a joint exploration of musical and choreographic composition, and to give everyone the power to make it their own, whatever their abilities or limitations. On the programme: collective reflection and elaboration, physical experimentation and the creation of sound materials.
Initially trained in contemporary dance, then in directing (Manufacture, Lausanne) and visual arts (HEAD, Geneva), Maud Blandel has been developing her own choreographic pieces since 2015. Singular and physically engaged, each of her works relies on a conceptual musical base in order to put into body and form various phenomena altered by the passage of time. She thus works on the notion of the sacrificed body and the putting into spectacle of the female body (TOUCH DOWN, 2015), on the folklorisation of popular dance practices (Lignes de conduite, 2018), on the killing of time via a type of 17th BIO_MAUD.rtf century musical entertainment called Divertimento (Diverti Menti, 2020). In parallel to her activities, she collaborates or works as an assistant with artists such as Cindy Van Acker, Karim Bel Kacem, Heiner Goebbels or Romeo Castellucci. Maud Blandel is a resident artist at the Arsenic (Lausanne), and is an artist by Parallèle (Marseille). Since 2016, Maud Blandel has been accompanied by Parallèle in production and distribution. She has been artist-in-residence at Arsenic – center d’art scénique contemporain de Lausanne since September 2018, and associate artist at CNDC – Angers and Bonlieu – scène nationale d’Annecy.