VOICES OF THE FOREST:
ARTIST RESIDENCY
Art inspired on the sound of the
megadiverse forests of Ecuador
ABOUT THE RESIDENCY
Voces del Bosque is an artist residency born from the dream to enable art within nature. In particular, the residency focuses on art creation through contact with the soundscape of natural areas, understood as the combination of sounds emitted in space and time.
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We propose a field of exploration with great potential for the professional development of artists; as well as for contributing with innovative insights to current challenges such as climate change and the loss of important natural areas. We want to trigger artistic processes through the interaction with ecosystems of great biocultural importance. Through the artwork generated we seek to create greater visibility and awareness about the intrinsic value of those threatened ecosystems.
Video documentary Voices of the Forest: an artist residency within the Yasuní, 2019 (produced by Gustavo Chiriboga)
DESCRIPTION
The artists will live in the Amazon for 1-2 weeks and will be introduced theoretically and empirically into the jungle, with a specific focus on the sounds of the ecosystem. Subsequently, through
tools that will be facilitated such as specialized workshops, exercises and guided walks, the artists will engage their individual creative process. From that framework artists will be able to generate works inspired by the sound of the place;
either by interacting with the soundscape,
or interpreting it through different disciplines.
Additionally, through the multisensory guided experiences in nature and our time together, artists will be able to draw from the facilitator’s extensive information on
ecoacoustics, ecology and ancestral
knowledge.
AIM
This program seeks to encourage artistic creation through contact with nature, in order to develop areas little explored artistically in the country and the world, such as art within natural and megadiverse soundscapes. In addition, we seek to make visible the importance of the conservation of this natural area through different interpretations and artistic languages of the soundscape.
WHY ECUADOR?
Ecuador is the ideal country for deep listening and multisensory exploration
of nature, since it is home to the largest biodiversity per square kilometer in
the world and, therefore, full of natural acoustic richness. It is also characterized
by having a high biocultural diversity. Ecuador is home to 14 nationalities and 18
indigenous groups who safeguard ancestral ecological knowledge, due to their
strong connection with their territories. Despite Ecuador’s small size as a country,
it has contrasting landscapes within a very short distance. We can experience
high Andean mountains and snowy peaks, cloud forests, lush Amazon jungles,
Pacific Ocean beaches and some enchanted islands, the Galapagos.