Walking-with Changes: TO)pot Festival of radical soundwalks and Beyond Listening 2025
At Cukrarna Gallery and other public spaces, the TO)pot Festival of radical sound walking Beyond Listening will take place from 23 to 27 September 2025.
TO)pot, a festival of soundwalks, concerts and critical reflection, brings together artists, theorists and curious walkers in dialogue with spaces, their temporalities and more-than-human entities. The festival’s title, Walking-with Changes, points to the potential of walking and listening as practices that foster a deeper understanding of place and its shifting constant. Through attentive listening, walkers are invited to adopt a critical approach to the environments they inhabit – or, in the context of migration, are still learning to inhabit – and to attune themselves to both local and global landscapes.
About TO)pot
TO)pot, a festival of soundwalks, concerts and critical reflection, brings together artists, theorists and curious walkers in dialogue with spaces, their temporalities and more-than-human entities. The festival’s title, Walking-with Changes, points to the potential of walking and listening as practices that foster a deeper understanding of place and its shifting constant. Through attentive listening, walkers are invited to adopt a critical approach to the environments they inhabit – or, in the context of migration, are still learning to inhabit – and to attune themselves to both local and global landscapes.
In an era of hyper-production and constant acceleration, walking offers an alternative – a pause, a moment of silence and the space for reflection. Listening to places – both those we inhabit in the present moment and those undergoing turbulent transformation – becomes a means of creating necessary distance. Yet this distance is not about withdrawal; rather, it enables a form of attentive, sensitive and critical listening in a time that moves too quickly.
Walking, as an artistic practice, is not only a reflection of the moving body but also a way of attuning to and embedding oneself within an environment through listening. Walking art created in dialogue with specific spaces opens possibilities for a deeper understanding of the temporality and transformation of the places we inhabit daily. For political, economic or ecological reasons, some environments are no longer hospitable, even to their long-time inhabitants, who find themselves displaced and striving to take root in unfamiliar landscapes. At the same time, these landscapes, shaped by both human and natural forces, are themselves taking on new forms and roles. In this evolving relationship, a profound interconnectedness emerges between spaces and their human and more-than-human inhabitants. In some contexts, these bonds are so intimate and interdependent that the boundaries between place and dweller begin to blur. The festival’s artworks pose questions such as: What can we learn from beings that have endured centuries of migration, colonisation and adaptation?*1 and What role does memory – personal and collective – play in making sense of shifting space and time?*2
The festival invites you to listen with all your senses. It engages with the concept of multiple temporalities, where past, present and future, as well as parallel temporalities of the same places intertwine. This opens space for reflection on how we live-with spaces, how we might come to understand them more deeply, and how we can endure even when they become (in)hospitable or unfamiliar.
How can we come to recognise that space is the foundation for a well-anchored root system*3 – one that sustains all living beings and other entities that dwell there – and that mutual care and interdependence are essential to our shared, more resilient future?
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As part of the TO)pot festival, Cona, in collaboration with the Science and Research Centre Koper (ZRS Koper), is co-organising this year’s CENSE (Central European Network for Sonic Ecologies) symposium: Beyond Listening 2025: Walking-with Changes. The event brings together more than 30 scientists, theorists, artists and authors, selected through an open call. The programme committee has curated the symposium into three distinct formats: papers, peripatetic lectures and listening posters. The symposium forms a core part of the festival’s theoretical strand, highlighting the significance of acoustic ecology and walking as a method of inquiry and engagement. Continuing its tradition, Cona is also organising field trips for in-situ listening and sound recording. This year, these excursions are enriched by a full-day visit to the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, which will also host part of the symposium programme (symposium in the field).
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This year’s TO)pot festival presents three premieres of soundwalks produced by Cona in 2025 — Bodies of Water by Eva Mulej Vrabič (Oka) and Jaka Bombač, Following by Neža Knez and VRTATYS’ by Tetiana Khoroshun and Felisa Ko — as well as tremolo, a sound event by Brane Zorman and Boštjan Perovšek.
The soundwalks Bodies of Water and Following were selected through TO)pot festival’s open call and share a common focus on engaging with a selected environmental body. In Following, artist Neža Knez explores the sky in relation to the study, observation and forecasting of weather. In her soundwalk, participants follow a weather balloon on an imaginary journey through the sky, experiencing the atmosphere’s constant changes. In Bodies of Water, artists Eva Mulej Vrabič (Oka) and Jaka Bombač focus on a journey that weaves imagination with reality along the flow of a changing river – from the babbling of spring waters to thick dead*4 waters. In this work, water becomes a medium for imaginative imagery and an extension of our connective tissues, shaping the way we listen to and engage with the landscape.
The relationship to the environment is also explored in the sound events tremolo and Detunements which are featured in the festival’s opening concert. In tremolo, artists Boštjan Perovšek and Brane Zorman, together with scientist Juan José López Díez, combine artistic and scientific research to investigate the sonority of insects. Their project centres on the sonic expressions of small organisms that subtly shape the world through vibrations, while also engaging with the concept of third landscapes – abandoned urban areas untouched by intensive human planning. The work raises questions about the hospitality of these fragile, ephemeral environments and the kinds of organisms that inhabit them.
Detunements by Anna Friz offers a reflection on understanding the environment through artistic inquiry. She challenges the relationship between artistic and empirical scientific research in explaining the sonic environment. Through critical listening to the sounds of industrialisation, Friz reimagines the Atacama Desert in Chile, creating a soundwork filled with mirages, sonic distortions and camouflage.
Garden of the Earthly Delights by Martyna Poznańska is a guided listening walk that invites participants to engage in a multisensory exploration of their surroundings, with a focus on bodily awareness as a form of environmental communication. This work also highlights the significance of artistic research. According to the artist, such an approach enables a shift away from purely scientific knowledge towards a more intuitive, sensorial experience.
To round out the festival programme, we are presenting soundwalks by Tetiana Khoroshun and Felisa Ko and Anna Khvyl and Piotr Armianovski. These two soundwalks explore the (in)hospitability of space – its transformation, displacement and commemoration in the aftermath of war.
The soundwalk by Tetiana Khoroshun and Felisa Ko weaves together personal memories, dreamlike landscapes and the harsh realities of the war in Ukraine. Set as an audio walk through an urban park, it shifts between realistic and surreal worlds, narrating true stories through the mindscape of an injured Ukrainian soldier.
Anna Khvyl and Piotr Armianovski’s work distils urgent questions: How do we remember the events we wish to forget? How do we tell stories we long to keep silent? And how do we dare to ask the questions we fear the answers to?
Finally, the festival highlights young creators who have chosen a deeply challenging theme. The soundwalk by a group of students comprising Nikola Drole, Lina Eržen, Tadej Grum, Zala Kramperšek, Maša Milčinski, and Ajda Pirtovšek takes place in a cemetery. This enclosed space becomes a site to explore transition, dying and death*5, capturing the emotions of an individual navigating mourning within this intimate yet socially regulated moment.
The festival invites us to reconsider our relationships with the environment and all its beings and entities, imagining a different and better social, ecological and political framework through attentive listening to the (in)hospitality of spaces and the questions they pose.
— Irena Pivka, Cona
*1 Irena Pivka, Brane Zorman, gardenGOround. *2 Anna Khvyl, Piotr Armianovski, 5000 Steps to Peace and Justice / Kyiv–Den Haag. *3 Tetiana Khoroshun, Felisa Ko, VRTATYS’. *4 Mulej Vrabič, Bodies of Water. *5 Nikola Drole, Lina Eržen, Tadej Grum, Zala Kramperšek, Maša Milčinski, Ajda Pirtovšek, The Wall Between the Dead and the Living.
Programme
TUESDAY 23. 9.
Cha Caillat, Kristine Diekman, Mary Edwards, Arthur Enguehard, Ida Hiršenfelder (beepblip), Hugo Lioret, Ben Pagac, Ivan Penov, Ján Solčáni, Georgios Varoutsos listening posters
16.00–21.00, Cukrarna Gallery, lobby
Eric Leonardson Return to the Perimeter
peripatetic lecture, 60 min
16.00, Cukrarna Gallery, lobby
Csaba Hajnóczy, Ádám Darázs Terep Project
listening walk, 120 min
17.00, Cukrarna Gallery, lobby
Martyna Poznańska Garden of the Earthly Delights
soundwalk, 60 min
17.00 and 18.15, Ambrož Square Park
Neža Knez Following
soundwalk, 60 min
18.15, Ljubljana Castle, lower funicular station
TO)pot festival opening
Anna Friz Detunements
BBtrem (Boštjan Perovšek, Brane Zorman) tremolo
live sound events
20.00, Cukrarna Gallery, lobby
WEDNESDAY 24. 9.
CENSE Symposium opening
welcome speech, 30 min
9.00, Cukrarna Gallery, conference room
Cha Caillat, Kristine Diekman, Mary Edwards, Arthur Enguehard, Ida Hiršenfelder (beepblip), Hugo Lioret, Ben Pagac, Ivan Penov, Ján Solčáni, Georgios Varoutsos listening posters
9.00–21.00, Cukrarna Gallery, lobby
Eva Vozárová Screaming Air: Musings on a New Summer in Bratislava
Juan José López Díez, Rok Šturm Beyond the Audible: The World of Substrate Vibrations
paper session, 60 min
9.30, Cukrarna Gallery, conference room
John Grzinich AudioSwarm: Insectus
listening walk, 45 min
11.00, Cukrarna Gallery, main entrance
Bálint János Kiss Onomatopoeia and the Post-Industrial Soundscape
Mersid Ramičević A Venture into the Field Medium: Traversing the Barren Landscape
paper session, 60 min
12.00, Cukrarna Gallery, conference room
Carina Pesch (La Pesch) Vltava – A State of Recording
Kevin Logan, Mike Thompson A Little Bird Told Me: A Reflection on Nonhuman Agency and Technological Culture via the Common Starling’s Sonic Mimicry
Joanna Patrycja Wyrwa “When the unspeakable is brought to light …”
paper session, 90 min
14.00, Cukrarna Gallery, conference room
Martyna Poznańska Garden of the Earthly Delights
soundwalk, 60 min
16.00, Ambrož Square Park
Anna Khvyl, Piotr Armianovski 5000 Steps to Peace and Justice / Kyiv–Den Haag
soundwalk, 90 min
18.00, Monument to the Victims of All Wars
Tetiana Khoroshun, Felisa Ko VRTATYS’
soundwalk, 60 min
18.30, North City Park
Madina Tlostanova (De)coloniality of Sensing: Decolonial Aesthesis Revisited
keynote speech, 90 min
20.00, Cukrarna Gallery, conference room
THURSDAY 25. 9.
Symposium in the Field: Walking and Listening in the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park
full-day experiential activity
8.30–21.30, Sečovlje Salina Nature Park
Maja Bjelica Walking-with the Saltworks: An Essay in Listening-with the Elements
paper in motion, 30 min
9.00, Bus to the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park
Sara Anjo Walk to a Place of Strength
listening walk, 20 min
10.30, Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, Fontanigge
Karmen Ponikvar It Sings Softly to Those Who Pause to Listen
listening walk, 20 min
14.30, Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, Fontanigge
George Edmondson Sonic Solastalgia: Listening to Environmental and Cultural Identity in Samothraki
performative lecture, 30 min
16.30, Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, Lera
Experiential events as part of the Symposium in the Field also include guided tours of the park and the Museum of Saltmaking, and a presentation of contemporary saltmaking practices. A group bus service is organized from Ljubljana to the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park.
FRIDAY 26. 9.
Meet CENSE
Meeting of the Central European Network for Sonic Ecologies members & friends, 120 min
9.00, City Museum of Ljubljana, projection hall
Neža Knez Following
soundwalk, 60 min
9.30, Ljubljana Castle, lower funicular station
Maria Balabas Home Is Where Listening Happens
Darko Fritz H2O Interface
paper session, 60 min
11.30, City Museum of Ljubljana, projection hall
Saška Rakef, Pia Brezavšček Dramaturgy of Time as an Agent of Creating Spaces of Relation, Wonder, and Tuning
peripatetic lecture, 45 min
14.00, Gosposka 15
CENSE listening ahead
Meeting of the Central European Network for Sonic Ecologies members & friends, 120 min
15.00, City Museum of Ljubljana, projection hall
Anna Khvyl, Piotr Armianovski 5000 Steps to Peace and Justice / Kyiv–Den Haag
soundwalk, 90 min
16.00, Monument to the Victims of All Wars
Eva Mulej Vrabič (Oka), Jaka Bombač Bodies of Water
soundwalk, 60 min
18.00, Rooster Bridge, Gradaščica
SATURDAY 27. 9.
Tetiana Khoroshun, Felisa Ko VRTATYS’
soundwalk, 60 min
10.00, North City Park
Eva Mulej Vrabič (Oka), Jaka Bombač Bodies of Water
soundwalk, 60 min
12.00, Rooster Bridge, Gradaščica
Nikola Drole, Lina Eržen, Tadej Grum, Zala Kramperšek, Maša Milčinski, Ajda Pirtovšek The Wall Between the Dead and the Living
soundwalk, 60 min
17.00, Holy Cross Parish Church at Žale
More about the festival
The producer and organiser of the TO)pot festival is Cona, produced for the Steklenik Gallery in co-production with Cukrarna Gallery / MGML. The CENSE Beyond Listening 2025: Walking-with Changes symposium is co-organised by Cona and the Science and Research Centre Koper (ZRS Koper) for the Central European Network for Sonic Ecologies (CENSE).
The programme of Cona is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the City of Ljubljana, Department for Culture. The project Sejalke: Green Collaborations of the TO)pot Festival is co-funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
Co-producer of the festival: Cukrarna Gallery Produced and organised by: Cona, for the Steklenik Gallery TO)pot festival partner: Mestna galerija Ljubljana Partners of the soundwalks: AGRFT – Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television; National Institute of Biology; Krater Creative Laboratory; Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy of the Republic of Slovenia; and the Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO).
The CENSE Beyond Listening 2025: Walking-with Changes symposium is organised by Cona and the Science and Research Centre Koper, Institute for Philosophical and Religious Studies. The event is held under the auspices of the Central European Network for Sonic Ecologies (CENSE).
Symposium programme committee Scientific board: Elena Biserna, Jacek Smolicki, Maja Bjelica Organising board: Irena Pivka, Ida Hiršenfelder (beepblip), Maja Bjelica Advisory board: Csaba Hajnóczy, Miloš Vojtěchovský, Brane Zorman, Petra Kapš
The symposium-in-the-field Walking and Listening in the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, a full-day experiential part of the symposium, is supported and co-organised by SOLINE, d.o.o. / Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, the Sergej Mašera Maritime Museum in Piran and the Muzofil Association.
The co-organisation of the CENSE Beyond Listening 2025: Walking-with Changes symposium is financially supported by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) within the framework of the basic research project “A Grain of Salt: Crystallising Coexistence — Saltmaking as Embodied Environmental Knowledge” (J6-50196), carried out by the Science and Research Centre Koper.
