Futures of Listening: Project Launch & Community Assembly

Towards a new generation of immersive spatial sound

Thursday May 28, Contact (Contactweg 47, Amsterdam)
Times: 11:00 - 17:00 | Community Drinks: 17:00 - 18:00

On Thursday we invite all makers, researchers, students, developers, listeners, and enthusiasts of immersive sound experiences to the first public event of Futures of Listening at the 4DSOUND studio in Amsterdam.

Futures of Listening is a new Netherlands-based platform which supports and presents emerging developments in spatial sound in relation to immersive experiences, performances and installation art. It is founded by FIBER Festival, 4DSOUND, Robin Koek, and Art of Sound (Royal Conservatoire The Hague), and includes a broad network of artists and (inter)national artistic and scientific partners, including iii, SSC and ACPA at Leiden University and University of the Arts The Hague, MONOM, PXL-Music Research at PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts, CTM festival and many more.

The consortium, established with support from the national CIIIC programme, and the activities of its platform, focus on current and past immersive technologies and listening practices with a sound-centered mission. While thinking about immersion often begins in the realm of spatial imagery (XR, VR, AR), Futures of Listening is grounded in spatial sound and explores its immersive and narrative possibilities, particularly in relation to urgent ecological and social issues.

Spatial sound has the capacity to enrich sensory experience and inform new ways of collective listening, whether as immersive stories that unfold through space and movement, or as sculptural, choreographic, and architectural approaches that engage perception beyond narrative and linear progression. This opens up possibilities to explore shared imaginations, a deeper sense of connection to place, and attune our bodies to a more-than-human world.

Project Launch | THU 28/5

On Thursday, May 28, there will be a full-day programme during which the project will present itself and engage in discussions with artists and industry professionals about new and pressing developments in spatial sound. The day is intended to forge new connections among various actors in the field and to provide an opportunity for knowledge exchange. In addition to various lectures and discussion sessions, the programme will also include opportunities for collective listening.

Passepartouts have free access to this event