World Listening Day 2021: The Unquiet Earth

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REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

Participate

In 2020 we were forced to pause by an invisible virus. This brought countless consequences to the environment, and to the sonic environment in particular. New acoustic horizons emerged, signaling times of unquietness and global change, and requiring our listening awareness to evolve.

The theme for 2021 “The Unquiet Earth” is an invitation to reflect on and engage with the constant murmur of the Earth, sounds beyond the threshold of human hearing, to remind ourselves that we share this mysterious and awesome planet. Small, hidden, subterranean, aerial, underwater, infra- and ultrasonic sounds, inaudible to the naked ear, can bring a new, potentially hopeful, perspective on the future of the planet and humanity. Listening as activism encourages us to question our attitudes as listeners as we aim to construct a more inclusive and empathetic new world. Join the unquiet revolution!

Listeners of all kinds are invited to host and participate in three activity types:

  • 24-hour #WLD2021 streamed program hosted by the World Listening Project. We invite you to submit audio and video works.*

  • Local events that are self-organized and led by groups or individuals for the public. Soundwalks, installations, workshops are examples. We will help promote and celebrate your activities on our platforms.

  • Personal celebrations. We invite you to share media and writing about private responses to the prompt of World Listening Day 2021: The Unquiet Earth.

REGISTER HERE.

Deadline for 24-hour Steamed event: June 19, 2021.

Deadline for local and personal events and celebrations: July 17, 2021.

We also welcome everyone to share news, ideas, and questions about participation in the comments of this post in our Facebook Page and Facebook Group.

Lisbon-based filmmaker, curator, and organizer Raquel Castro created this year’s theme.

Since its inception in 2010, thousands of people from six continents have participated in World Listening Day. July 18th is the birth date of renowned Canadian composer, music educator, and author, R. Murray Schafer. With the World Soundscape Project he developed the fundamental ideas and practices of acoustic ecology in the 1970s. These inform the current, burgeoning interest in our changing acoustic environment. Thus, World Listening Day honors Schafer’s contribution to understanding our world.

World Listening Day 2021: a 24 hour Stream for The Unquiet Earth is presented in partnership with Wave Farm and the Wave Farm Transmit Partner program. 
 

22 Comments

  1. I would like to coordinate a group in Buffalo-Niagara region (New York State) to participate in World Listening Day.

    Thank you,
    Cynthia

    • Thank you, Cynthia.

      We want to help grow the conversations / participation. When it’s available, can you share any specifics about time, date, and place with us? The we will post that on our social media channels.

      Best,

    • Hi Cynthia, I am based in the Buffalo/Niagara region, and have been a passionate hearing conservationist, acoustician/engineer and have been involved in new technology development for environmental acoustics and occupational noise exposure, I’m a CAOHC Certified Occupational Hearing Conservationist, but really I am an instrumentation developer who has involved in some of the world’s most advances noise monitors and sound analyzers. Originally a performing artist/musician, I have worked closely with some of the top researchers at NIOSH and other governmental agencies, top universities and private industry to attempt to better understand how humans and sound interact for both positive and detrimental outcomes. Would live to be involved in the event.

      • Hi Rob,
        Thanks for introducing yourself. I’d be interested to hear more of your experience on humans & sound interaction, with an ear for building a World Listening Day activity.
        regards, Cynthia

  3. I am primarily interested in listening to subsurface sounds either Ocean, Bay or Soil.

    I will at least, bury my hydrophone in the soil and record, on LIstening Day dawn and throughout and at various time throughout the day.

  4. For the livestream option, do you simply want the link in advance or do you want a video or audio prerecording?

    Thank you

  5. Hi Eric,

    We (LASAM Music) submitted a video for the 24 hour streamed event about a month ago, and we have not heard back from anyone – can you confirm it was received? It is a video of an outdoor performance of a text score called LAND SEA SKY.
    Thanks,
    Tina

    • Hi Tina,

      I’m confirming receipt of your submission. Thank you so much!

      For everyone, here’s a reminder. Deadline for the online 24-hour steam event is June 19, 2021. And, we are very pleased to be streaming partners with the Wave Farm! BTW, they have have a June 30 deadline for their third annual Radio Artist Fellowship, with mentoring from Anna Friz, Joan Schuman, and Gregory Whitehead.

      The deadline for other local and personal World Listening Day events and celebrations is July 17, 2021.

      If anyone is interested in volunteering to help, please contact me.

      My best,
      Eric

  6. Hello Eric or whomever this may most concern. (And if it’s you, Tina, hello after so long since Musicworks!) I am hugely eager to contribute to World Listening Day an interview I did, early in the days (1970s and 1980s) of my various projects with Murray Schafer, which included directing sound recording of “Music for Wilderness Lake” and “Princess of the Stars”. This was an interview for CBC Radio on the subject of … Silence. Here’s the Soundcloud link. Please let me know what else you might require. Tim

    https://soundcloud.com/personamedia/r-murray-schafer-on-silence

    • Tim! What a pleasure to see your note here. I am not part of the WLP admin team, just another contributor like you. I remember some of those interviews with Schafer – it would be great to hear them again. I hope you are well.

  7. Dear Tim and Tina,

    Thank you so much! We have closed submissions for the 24-hour stream. However, I find that this interview is an especially listenable and relevant contribution. Peter Courtemanche is volunteering his exceptional skills and precious time organizing audio and reaching out to all the contributors. You may have already been in contact with him about your including your submission.

    FYI, we should have around 80 audio and video submissions. I’m very pleased with what I’ve heard so far, promising for quite a wonderful program.

    We are also seeking volunteers. Contact us to find out more.

    All the best,
    Eric

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