The Listening Affect: a new festival of sound ecologies is coming

The festival – The Listening Affect – will gather in several places in Porto, between November 10 and 12, about two dozen international artists, including composers, sound artists and acoustic researchers.

Organized by the Department of Contemporary Art of Ágora - Culture and Sport of Porto, the initiative is curated by the Institute for Postnatural Studies (Madrid, Spain). Among the confirmed names are Laraaji, KMRU, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Ute Wassermann, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Laia Estruch, Infrasónica, Elton Panamby, Marlon Wirawasu, Rezmorah, Lechuga Zafiro, Emil Saiz, Debit, Interspecifics, Marta Zapparoli, Andrea Zarza, Filipa Ramos, Tartaruga Água and Gustavo Costa.

How are the sounds of the planet, of all its creatures and territories changing with the climate crisis? How do animals perceive the noise of human activities and our spoken languages? How does a plant sound when it moves, elongating its leaves to find light or moving its roots toward water? How do we hear solar flares? Or electromagnetic waves? How does the sound of plate tectonics affect our mood and our daily routines? Can you think of sounds that have gone extinct?

These and other issues will be explored and incorporated into this arts and science festival, which will unfold into concerts, conversations, sound activations and performances. Amplifying, reverberating, and entangling the city's sonic ecosystem, The Listening Affect aims to be an open and playful platform for collective critical thinking around sound ecologies and the exploration of new modes of empathy for our relationship with the environment.

Entry to the festival is free. More information about the final program will be announced soon on the website of Porto Municipal Gallery.