Next Tuesday, 4 June, from 6 pm, a new exhibition by sound artist Tomáš Šenkyřík will open at Brno’s House of Arts on Malinovského Náměstí, running until 14 July.
In his work, “Soundscapes of Brno”, Šenkyřík attempts to capture the sounds of everyday life in the city, both those we notice and those we don’t.
The 52-year old artist is also an ethnomusicologist, who worked in the past at the Roma Culture Museum in Brno, and is currently the deputy mayor of Židlochovice. He composes electro-acoustic music, devoting himself to field recordings, mainly of natural environments, and exploring their connection with the cultural sphere.
During his research, Šenkyřík focused mainly on places on the border of different sound zones, according to the theoretical framework of the U.S. musician and sound ecologist Bernie Krause: animal sounds, natural sounds of non-biological origin (such as rain, wind, rivers and streams) and man-made sounds.
He proceeded from the outskirts of Brno to the centre, and investigated how the sound zones in individual parts of the city mix and influence each other.
In the resulting sound installation, it will be possible to hear recordings from, for example, Lužánky Park, whose biodiversity is in direct contact with residential development and road traffic, from Petrov, where the singing of wood pigeons and passing trains can be heard, or from Červený kopec, an important wintering ground for ravens.
The visual accompaniment in the form of minimalistic video drawings generated directly from the recording for the exhibition was created by the artist Michal Kindernay.
As well as the author, curator Lenka Dolanová will also be present at the inauguration, and the two will be accompanied by a performance with field recordings performed by Maria Puttnerová and Martin Novák.
“The installation presents us with surprising tonal layers of meaning, it wants to lead us to listen more attentively, to “open” our ears so that we are able to find sonic beauty where we might not be looking for it,” explained Dolanová.
In the days after the inauguration some side-events will take place, including a one-day video installation and a lecture about Brno’s birds on Thursday, 6 June, and a listening and discussion evening on the topic of field recordings on Wednesday, 19 June. More information about these events are available here.
Exhibitions of the House of Art are accessible every Wednesday and Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm for a voluntary entrance fee; on Wednesdays the opening hours are extended until 8 pm.
