SONIC AND CINEMA COMMONS

Music – and sound in a broad sense – enables unique forms of public creation and expression, whether through sound system culture, on dance floors or through various forms of transmission. The articulation of sound (through the construction of rhythms and sampling) and its circulation (through parties, gatherings and programming) produce specific forms of collectivity that have been central to multiple experiences of community building and counterculture. This axis brings together practices that, in different ways, mobilise the potential of sound spaces as tools for gathering, weaving solidarity and resisting oppression and exclusion.

The project also addresses socialisation processes and the potential of cinema beyond the image. The practices brought together here investigate its capacity to convene, assemble and produce common spaces, understood in architectural, social and political terms. Historically, cinema has been a fundamental tool in various emancipatory and liberating struggles. Based on these histories, the proposals in this area seek to understand what role cinema can play in the current cultural and political context, overcoming the dominant – often violent – forms of representation and their modes of distribution, in order to advance towards new possibilities for the commons.

Overall, this initiative embraces these practices in a broad sense, ranging from the organisation of film forums and listening sessions to the creation of community exhibition spaces. It also includes the development of study programmes focused on film and sound practices, as well as the opening up of sound and moving image production and editing processes.

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