Asia-Europe Cultural Festival: 2024 | Sound of X

In times of isolation, reconnection, upheaval, and change, Sound of X  offers a unique way to address diverse urban and cultural identities.

Sound of X  is a series of video soundscapes initiated by the Goethe-Institut as an international, digital project before the coronavirus crisis struck. Since then, through artistic contributions from all over the world, the project has grown.  

The global pandemic intensified both our estrangement from one another, as well as a deep desire to connect with each other through whatever available means. This ethos remains at the heart of the project, with each artist being invited to capture their hometown in a short video, without words, solely on the basis of sounds, and local acoustics that are condensed into a musical work. The resulting video soundscapes address diverse urban and cultural identities, across different localities in regional and global contexts, each performing its own sonic complexity and perspective on their urban environment. 

Digital culture and especially social media have brought a shift towards the visual. Often, however, an image refers only to itself, and we are unable to establish any relation to what is shown. At a time in which screen culture is becoming increasingly desensitizing, the artists of Sound of X  take up alternative approaches to visual and acoustic perception. 

In the context of our urban environment, sounds can emerge from the ambient noise which, although invisible, hold many things together: the musicality of everyday life and the often ignored soundtrack of a city that reveals or reflects its characteristic social fabric. 

We are constantly immersed in the soundscape of our urban environment; sometimes louder, sometimes softer, but ever present in its uniqueness. What is noise? What is sound? And how can we listen in a different way? These are some of the questions the artists explore in Sound of X. 

Artists: Ali M. Demirel, Jade Mai and Nick Chan, John Navid and Indra Perkasa, Hug and Nyima Wangdu, Escuri  

Thanks to: Goethe-Institut 

Entrance to this exhibition is free. Visit Biblioteca Tartarotti's website to view the opening hours.

The event is part of the Asia-Europe Cultural Festival 2024, organised by ASEF with the financial support of the European Union. For the full programme, CLICK HERE.