During this workshop, we will explore our experiences of listening to urban soundscape augmented by the sounds of military, surveillance and civilian drones. We will venture outdoors while playing these sounds from our phones and portable Bluetooth speakers. This attentive listening exercise will help us delve into experiences of conflict, mediated through media, literature and first-hand, personal memories. While the workshop activities will enable us to explore these sounds in relation to ourselves and each other through performance, the adjustments of loudness and the direction of the sounds emitted, it will also place us in a dynamic power relationship with the London cityscape.
Please bring your phones and, if you wish, portable Bluetooth speakers. Wear comfortable clothes appropriate to the weather.
The work recognises that aerial drones are increasingly used in surveillance and military operations around the world, causing severe stress and PTSD to populations subjected to their sounds. The workshop could trigger some people due to the sounds used and their associations with armed conflict. Please contact Maja if you need more information.
E-mail: maja.zeco@gmail.com
This event is part of our workshop series that explores themes of home, migration, displacement and diasporic knowledges.
Pushkin House is committed to making all of our events as accessible as possible for every audience member. Please get in touch with us if you have a particular request and we will gladly discuss with you the best way to accommodate it.
Maja Zećo [maya zecho], originally from Sarajevo and based in Scotland since 2015, is an interdisciplinary performance artist with an interest in sound and moving image. In her work, she explores the themes of identities and post-conflict intertwined with Balkan futurisms.
The critical exploration of these themes has led Maja to self-burials, diving into water to recall memories, sensory impairment experiments, and endurance practice. Her most recent performance, ‘Defend and Protect’ was presented in the Institute of Contemporary Art, Zagreb as part of her solo exhibition ‘Discomfited Futures’.
5A Bloomsbury Square London WC1A 2TA