SONOTOMIA is a project co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme that merges two concepts, the intangible and tangible cultural heritage, in a very innovative way.
SONOTOMIA’s mission is art creation by means of connecting sound in specific soundscapes with tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and the exploration of sounds in space for the promotion of cultural heritage with the use of digitisation and ICT technologies via co-creational exercises.
This project addresses cultural and creative professionals to increase their awareness, interest and competencies in participatory, spatial and sensory explorations and experiences, as well as in ways to successfully market cultural programmes, artefacts and works of art that explore links between spaces and sounds. In this context, by cultural and creative professionals are considered musicians (both authors and performers), historians, biologists, curators, digital media designers/artists, ICT sound experts and engineers, creative and cultural entrepreneurs who have expertise or/and are interested in digitisation and the application of ICT technologies for the co-creation of cultural programmes, artefacts and works of art based on sound co-production. The diversity of the levels of experiences and backgrounds of cultural and creative professionals are an added value that the project will profoundly capitalise on, promoting interdisciplinarity.
SONOTOMIA project is managed by four organisations: Pedra Angular in Portugal, Spatial Sound Institute in Hungary, 4DSOUND Technologies in The Netherlands and Fundacion Santa Maria de Albarracín in Spain.
Find out more about the organisations and people behind SONOTOMIA in the About section on this website.
Soundscapes are the layers of the invisible yet direct experiences and impressions of the everyday life, giving a new meaning/role to the cultural heritage and connecting it to everyday life experiences. Soundscapes create conditions of making culture available to individuals/larger audiences and are a tool for learning how to listen and experience different types of the environment.
4DSOUND is a technology that explores spatial sound as a medium. Since 2007, 4DSOUND has developed integrated hardware and software systems that provide a fully omnidirectional sound environment. These environments enable vivid sonic experiences that blur the boundaries between the real and the imagined: the world of sound we know, and a world beyond.
Building on more than a decade of research, development and experimentation with spatial sound technology, this process has opened up new ways to design, perform and experience sound. 4DSOUND has been at the forefront of some of the most creatively challenging and technically complex projects using spatial sound – ranging from symphonic experiences to bio-wearable instruments, from interactive theatre to kinetic architecture.
SONOTOMIA´s uniqueness lies in the exploration of sounds for the promotion of cultural heritage with the use of digitisation and ICT technologies via co-creational exercises.
The core of the project will be capacity-building promoted by project partner organisations organised through artistic residencies (SONOTOMIA residencies) in three countries.
The selected residency sites (Alentejo, Albarracín and Budapest) constitute very different contexts with distinct characteristics in terms of sounds and cultural heritage to be promoted through the cultural programmes, artefacts and works of art that are created in the project’s course.
SONOTOMIA project is structured around three residencies.
Residency 1.0 “Preservation of coastal and marine life through spatial sounds“ took place in Alentejo (Portugal) between 14 and 21 September 2020. Utilised venues were Santiago de Cacém and Sines & Odemira, Alentejo.
Residency 2.0 will take place in Albarracín (Spain) between 22 and 29 May 2021.
Residency 3.0 will be hosted in Budapest (Hungary) in fall 2021.
This residency envisions three clear outputs that all residents will have a chance to contribute to:
Sound Library (Sound Capture)
SONOTOMIA Residents will identify, capture and classify the soundscapes of previously agreed elements of marine and coastal biodiversity, such for example the water sounds of different depths and surfaces, flora and fauna, interaction of fishermen and boats with the sea, and interaction of sea and coast, among others.
Landmark Art Installation
In a collaboration with the local partners such as the University of Évora and MARÉ – Marine and Environmental Science Centre, the Fishermen Association and Vocational School of Art in Sines, residents will have an opportunity to conceptualise and prototype the first joint solution (blueprint) of a landmark installation which will be developed in the later stages of the project.
Musical Final Presentation Piece
Some of the residents who are keener on sound engineering and music composition will be in charge of developing or experimenting with sound elements for the purpose of creating a musical piece.
SONOTOMIA expects cooperation and peer-learning among all residents, regardless of their backgrounds, experiences and interests, as a significant source of inspiration and a critical aspect of the SONOTOMIA Residencies. The orientation and support of the professionals will be initiated before the residency through the virtual meetings to prepare them for the collaboration and setting in which the work will take place.
SONOTOMIA residencies are open to all creative and cultural professionals in Europe interested in building their capacities through experimentation and use of spatial sound technologies such as the 4DSOUND system.
For the Residency 2.0, SONOTOMIA is looking for the creative and cultural professionals from various backgrounds residing in Spain who have experience or wish to build experience/capacity in some of the following areas:
- Application of soundscapes and sound library for educational and scientific purposes (e.g. environmental studies and sustainability; climate change; marine biology and preservation of heritage; health and wellbeing);
- Application of soundscapes and sound library for the art and culture purposes (e.g. installation design; community/audience development; cultural expression and creativity); and
- New music creation and sound research (e.g. music composition; music technology; performance).
The residency supports the acceptance of the professionals at any stage of their artistic or scientific career, therefore, from the established authors to those at the beginning of a deeper personal exploration of sound, as well as students. Considering the work will be organised in group activities SONOTOMIA residents will work together, exchanging expertise and experiences on the given topics, building together with the legacy of SONOTOMIA. Already considering the sustainability aspect, SONOTOMIA encourages joint proposals of a couple or few professionals that can demonstrate possible development of interdisciplinary innovative solutions.
SONOTOMIA invites all interested and eligible professionals to submit their proposals by filling out the Application Form (here).
The confirmation email will be sent upon the successful submission.
The individual and joint proposals for the SONOTOMIA Residency 2.0 must be submitted by 31 March 2021 23:59 Central European Time.
Submissions that are complete and eligible according to the application guidelines are reviewed by the SONOTOMIA consortium. All applicants will receive information about their acceptance no later than 15 April.
Due to Covid-19, SONOTOMIA holds the responsibility to inform accepted professionals about the possible changes in the programme, especially concerning the date of residency implementation.
The final event will be organised in Alentejo in the framework of the Terras Sem Sombra annual festival promoted by Pedra Angular. It will be formatted as a showcase of achieved results in SONOTOMIA residencies 1.0 (Alentejo, Portugal), 2.0 (Albarracín, Spain) and 3.0 (Budapest, Hungary).
It will consist of exhibiting the co-created and co-produced cultural outputs performed by selected former residence participants; together with the recorded testimonies of participants and public on the topic of mutual learning, capacity building and overall impressions; shared perspectives of the coordinators and local stakeholders that supported the project.
The digital hub will be a virtual collaborative space that will link the participants from different countries, their works, business models and entrepreneurial ecosystems. The digital hub will promote peer learning and establishment of synergies between former residents, thus, will help participants to exploit their collective knowledge, connections and networks for each other’s benefits. It will deliver support services such as continued coaching on innovation and sustainability. Finally, it will become an external sharing space on know-how on the acoustic archiving and ecology of listening concerning the topic of heritage promotion and preservation, and knowledge about sounds through its sound library.
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