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Brussels exhibition takes visitors on a journey through sound

01:00 07/05/2017
A sound art exhibition in Brussels explores the act of listening and the effect sounds have on the mind and body

An unusual new exhibition at the Central(e) in Brussels focuses on a particular form of contemporary art: works that study the interaction between sound and images.

Artistic firector Carine Fol gave carte blanche to Brussels sound art platform Overtoon to create the show, Where are Sounds (Où sont les sons). "The idea was to work on sound," says Canadian curator Nicole Gingras, who has been interested for many years in the links between sound and image. "This exhibition focuses on listening, it's really based on what it is to be listening to something, where are the sounds? Where do sounds go in a space, in a room, in your body, in your mind?"

Gingras chose 15 artists, both Brussels-based and international, to display pieces - and a 16th to lead sound tours at night through Brussels. "Artist David Tidoni will be doing what he calls Night Walks, so you walk with him in different areas of the city with a small group of people who are invited to be aware of sounds," she says. "It's a very free approach."

One piece which needs sunlight to make sounds has been installed on the terrace of the Museum of Musical Instruments. There is also a work based on a quote by Thelonius Monk: "Listen and you will see."

"I focus on sound and silence," Gingras says. "I think it's very important how some sounds travel in a space. You will experience some actual sounds travelling in space.

"One work is experienced with headphones since it focuses on the whole skull, which makes it a very intimate experience. Another work involves two small speakers that are placed on your eyelids so you get the sound through the bones on your face, it's based on listening but it's also based on the body."

The visitor is invited to visit the exhibition twice: "One needs to allow one's body to go through this journey of listening or imagining sound," Gingras adds.

Where are Sounds, Central(e) for Contemporary Art, until 9 October

Written by Richard Harris