The Founding Conference of CESSE / CENSE - Central European Network for Sonic Ecologies,
Budapest, 29 November – 1 December, 2018
cesse.mome.hu
(initiated by CSABA HAJNÓCZY)
Organized by: Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest (MOME)
With the contribution of: Budapest Music Center (BMC) & Spatial Sound Institute
Supported by Visegrad Fund
12–14 October 2018, Plasy
Seminar, Workshops, Discussion at Mathey Hall, Plasy Monastery, and Opatská konírna. In collaboration with the National Technical Museum and Center for Architectural Heritage Plasy
see Official Program
What type of acoustic environment is beneficial or detrimental for people and other beings? Is there even such a thing as a natural, healthy acoustic environment which is fitting for humans, irrespective of other beings?
22—24 September 2017, Mariánské Radčice, Czech Republic
The Soundworm Ecology Gathering was a three-day meeting of minds which brought together persons involved in ecology, theory and acoustics to discuss and exchange ideas a variety of questions concerning the natural environment in relation to the human actions taking place on it. The sound environment of the monotonous industrial soundscapes around Most, in northern Bohemia, consists mainly of the legato drone of the machines and the staccato counterpoint of stones tumbling onto the conveyor belts. This deep rumble can be heard from many kilometres away. How far it is carried depends on the atmospheric conditions, including the humidity and wind direction. From afar, the stripping and removal of coal and its transformation into energy appear uneventful, but the sound vibrations cast off by this industrial activity are sublime. But how much of this sublimity can the environment and its inhabitants endure before the mechanical process of extracting raw material becomes just a source of tedious, deadening noise?
3-5 October 2019
Location: Faculty of Art and Design at JEPU in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
Murmurans Mundus: Sonic Ecology and Beyond* was an international interdisciplinary conference focused on the current matters of acoustic ecology perceived from the perspective of arts and both social and natural sciences. The aim of the conference was to contribute to the international discussion on topics such as noise pollution, options of interpretation and manipulation of the acoustic environment or possibilities to reflex “acoustic ecology” in the educational process.The conference picks up where the founding conference, CENSE, left off. The Central European Network for Sonic Ecologies conference was held in Budapest at the end of November and beginning of December 2018.
22 – 24 October 2020
The history of sound recording and the recording process itself are key concerns for the field of sound studies. In recent years, researchers have discovered increasingly older forms of sound recording and inscription (e.g. research conducted by the First Sounds Group on Scott de Martinville’s phonautograph resulted in moving the date of the beginning of sound recording back to the 1860s.) Meanwhile, the notion of a “second life” of recorded sounds represents an important area for further inquiry. This notion refers to the problem of re-using archival, non-musical recordings in scientific research, as well as in the context of artistic, educational, environmental and political activities. Various types of sound archives offer important resources for historical, cultural, media, anthropological, musicological or sociological studies, as well as valuable material for artists. It is worthwhile to research within not only institutional contexts, but also private sound archives and collections, whether recently established or those with a long tradition. Today, the common practice of recording the sounds of everyday life using smartphones and portable recorders also raises questions about the future fate of these vast repositories of recordings.
The publication is a culmination of the international interdisciplinary conference Murmurans Mundus: Sonic Ecology and Beyond, which took place in October 2019 at the Faculty of Art and Design of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem organized in cooperation with partners from Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. The book focuses on current matters of acoustic ecology at the intersection of fine arts, design, music, and education, and it explores the possibilities that this discipline has to offer for reflection on today’s transforming world. The book was published in both English and Czech. (From the preface.)
The CENSE organisation committee is at work on the next interdisciplinary gathering, scheduled for October 2019, and hosted by the Faculty of Art and Design of the University of Jan Evangelista Purkyně (UJEP) in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic. The gathering will be a three-day event (date and location still negotiated) with the goal of bringing together more artists, scientists, natural resource managers, especially from Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, to explore the way that sound can extend our understanding of the environment.