Date: 16.11.2024
Time: 16:00-18:00 CET
Location: Varia
What is the role of the vernacular in sound knowledge and modes of organisation? Knowledge and information organisation are deeply powerful acts, which relate to how we envision the world. This event further develops an ongoing thread about the ways the vernacular (re)orients language and technology and generates other forms of knowledge sharing and organising. How can groundedness in intimate relationships to content inform the handling of the material?
Khamoosh is a participatory artistic research project that mediates conservation and restoration by exploring the sonic heritage of Iran through recorded sounds of everyday life; sounds less heard or even silenced.
“We come together in the shared intimacy of sound through the tools of technology and time. Hearing the relationship between sound and language is an ongoing process formed by both well-known and unknown contributors as well as by nonhumans, broadening the listening sphere of our extended collective. Our combined practices include music, anthropology, linguistics, and audiovisual design.”
Golnoosh and Maryam, two members of Khamoosh, will host an event at Varia. They will begin by presenting how Khamoosh as a process-based project operates, and share insights to their own roles within the Khamoosh community. The session will continue with a collective listening workshop featuring carefully selected soundscapes from Khamoosh’s sound archive drawn from everyday sounds, voices, and rhythms focusing on the vernacular.
During this listening journey, Maryam will perform Persian calligraphy - a traditional art form requiring specialized tools such as ink and reed pens crafted from plants —and follow precise rules for writing letters and words. This performance will be inspired by the sounds that embody the vernacular language of emotion and spirit. Participants are encouraged to join in, letting the sounds guide their own creative expressions—whether through drawing, writing, or sharing reflections.
Golnoosh Heshmati is an interdisciplinary artist and curator based between Rotterdam and Tehran. Her practice combines artistic and curatorial approaches, concentrating on collective practices. She creates new dialogues within the partial, fragmented personal everyday life archives while exploring listening as a timely, open-ended practice. She is the co-founder of Rabt space, a roaming curatorial studio focusing on sonic practices.
Maryam Ramezankhani is an interdisciplinary researcher and artist based in Tehran, with a foundation in linguistics and a specialization in Persian calligraphy. Her work bridges lingual and visual expression, exploring the intersections of language, art, and cultural heritage. Through her practice, Maryam delves into the nuanced connections between concepts and forms, inviting audiences to engage with the profound interplay of meaning and visual expression.
Khamoosh website: https://theeveryday.hotglue.me/
Khamoosh newsletter: https://khamoosh.online/
This series falls under Varia's Counter-Colonial research thread and is supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.
