Discussion

Sound Chronicles: A Journey into Sound Art

Lorenzo Benedetti, Matteo Binci, Cecilia Casorati, Miran Mohar (Irwin), Blaž Peršin, Mario Pieroni
29. 5. 2025 @ 18:00
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Adults, Students, Seniors
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Tuesday to Sunday: 10.00–19.00

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Free admission

Sound Chronicles: A Journey into Sound Art

As part of the international project Sound Chronicles, which explores sound art and the importance of archiving sound-based works, the round table focuses on the role of archives, listening as an artistic practice, and the future of sound art.

The Sound Chronicles project - developed by Zerynthia and curated by Matteo Binci - aims to valorize the donation of the MPDS (Solo Suono) collection and sound archive to the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome in 2021. The research and valorization project involves international academic institutions and more than 20 Italian and international professionals active in the field of sound art research through a day-long study on sound art, a conference on composition and rare materials in the collection, and a second conference on the future of sound archives and sound-related art practices, underdeveloped topics and issues. Two educational workshops will be held for ABA Rome students with leading figures in contemporary art to raise awareness of the sound works in the collection and to broaden awareness of sound as an artistic medium.

The goal of the donation was to make the collection available for consultation by students and researchers, but also to create a space for shared experimentation and reflection, capable of stimulating the academic community toward new interpretations and insights into sound art. The decision to donate the archive is in fact functional to ensure the best use for the education of new generations of artists and curators.

The collection consists of rare sound works by more than 200 artists, recordings of interviews and lectures on sound art, unpublished documentation of happenings and concerts from the artistic experiments of Radioartemobile's Sound Art Museum (2002-2020), the private collections of Dora Stiefelmeier, Mario Pieroni and the Pieroni Gallery (1975-1992), and Maurizio Nannucci's Zona Radio archive (1974-1985).

www.mpdsaudioarchive.org is an archive in which thousands of sound testimonies converge from John Cage to Vito Acconci, passing through artists such as Franz West, Jannis Kounellis up to Jimmie Durham, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Carla Accardi and Dan Graham, but also collaborations with critics and art historians, architects, philosophers, scientists and other radios (Achille Bonito Oliva, Germano Celant, Yona Friedman, Margherita Hack and Cona Radio to name a few).

The catalog planned for the project will collect critical texts and analyses aimed at exploring the context of sound art from the 1960s to the present, with a focus on the role of orality, listening as an artistic practice, and the relationship between sound art, technology and radio. The volume also includes detailed fact sheets of selected works written by Academy doctoral students, a reference bibliography, and a disc with a selection of sound works to provide a complete visual and aural experience. A podcast documents events and insights, giving voice to students, artists and curators involved in the project.




The event will be held in English.

Event is carried out under the project Sound Chronicles, supported by PAC2024 - Piano per l'Arte Contemporanea, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.