INTIMAL – Interfaces for Relational Listening: body, telematics, memory, migration.

In the European context of migration and diasporas, and at the intersection of sound art, music cognition, psychology and human-computer interaction, this project will develop INTIMAL: a novel physical-virtual “embodied system” for relational listening. Through the artistic practice of telematic sonic performance this system will interconnect people’s bodily motion and voice with their memories and dreams of distant locations.

As a case study, nine Colombian migrant women in Europe will test INTIMAL in their listening experiences as a catalyst for healing and reconciliation within the context of Colombian post-conflict and peace building. The group will work with oral history sound archives from the Commission of Truth and Reconciliation of Colombian Migrant Women, a grassroots initiative supported in London by the Conciliation Resources charity.

INTIMAL will be developed at the University of Oslo (UiO) during Ximena’s Research Fellowship and at Bergen Center for Electronic Arts (BEK). The project will be supported and mentored by UiO’s Alexander Refsum Jensenius and the fourMs - Music, Mind, Motion, Machines interfaculty research group, CRiSAP’S Cathy Lane, BEK’s Trond Lossius, and Kristin Norderval from the Deep Listening community.

Ximena Alarcón was awarded the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions Research Fellowship in 2017 for this research project.

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The final performance using INTIMAL took place on 7 May 2019, simultaneously in Barcelona, Oslo and London.

For more information, please see the event page