Prominent Canadian composer, radio artist, and teacher Hildegard Westerkamp holds deep concerns about noise pollution and the present condition of the acoustic environment.
For this event, Westerkamp will present an overview of her work, followed by a conversation with the residents of Climata: Capturing change at a time of ecological crisis. The discussion will trace the continuing evolution of her ideas about music and acoustics, and her increasing awareness of the ethical and political dimensions of recording, listening and presenting.
This event is presented in English and is free of charge and open to all.
It forms part of an events series addressing issues relating to sound and ecology, programmed alongside PRAKSIS’s seventeenth residency, Climata - Capturing change at a time of ecological crisis. Climata has been developed with sound artist Lasse-Marc Riek and Goethe-Institut Norwegen. It includes collaborations with Norsk Teknisk museum, Gruenrekorder, and Notam. This event is also part of the programme of the klima2+ exhibition at Teknisk museum. klima2+ addresses climate change by bringing together scientific perspectives, insights from the critical humanities and art, as well as inviting action through art interventions, practical workshops and activism.
This event will be held online via the Zoom communications platform from 19.00 CEST. It will be recorded. Recording will focus on the speaker, but if you prefer not to be recorded you are welcome to join with your camera and microphone off.
ABOUT HILDEGARD WESTERKAMP
Born in Germany in 1946, Hildegard Westerkamp emigrated to Canada in 1968, where she now lives and works. After completing her music studies in the early seventies, Westerkamp shifted the focus of her research beyond music to the acoustic environment as a broader place and context for intense listening. As a composer, educator and radio artist, most of her work since the mid-seventies has centred on environmental sound and acoustic ecology.
Westerkamp’s compositions have been performed and broadcast to international audiences. She has composed film soundtracks and sound documents for radio, and extracts from her work play a key role in the soundtracks of Gus van Sant’s films Elephant and Last Days. Radio programmes that she has produced and hosted include Soundwalking and Musica Nova for Vancouver Co-operative Radio, and she is a founding member of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE, 1993), serving between 2000 and 2012 as chief editor of its journal Soundscape—The Journal of Acoustic Ecology. She has written numerous articles and texts addressing issues of the soundscape, acoustic ecology and listening. Between 1981-1991, Westerkamp taught on the Acoustic Communication programme in the School of Communication at Vancouver’s Simon Fraser University. She continues to lecture and conduct soundscape workshops internationally.
