Soundscapes of Memory – Paisajes Sonoros de la Memoria

In March 2024, members of the Oralities cluster gathered for five days at the National University, Bogotá to explore how we listen and how we remember what we hear. During the residency they journeyed to specific places in Bogota to listen and record the sounds of the city. They divided into three sub-groups who worked together to edit, with the help of sound engineers at the University radio station, their sound clips into short audioscapes. These three “micropodcasts,” approximately four minutes in length each, invite the listener to engage with the sonic layers of Bogotá, a complex, textured, urban space. Individual experiences captured by the cellphone fuse together to create a collective soundscape of memory that stimulated vibrant discussions and about methodology, politics, ethics, and meaning-making in particular places. In addition to producing these works, the Oralities cluster gathered daily to engage in listening exercises, discuss past work, and future aspirations. The cluster also sponsored a public lecture connected to the theme of sound and memory by Franklin R. Bonivento van Grieken from Marimberos de mi nación and Phd student at Concordia University and Oralities Research Assistant and Ana Luisa Ramírez Flórez, Jenri Serna Córdoba and Catalina Muñoz from Nuestra Orilla .