International Community for Auditory Display

IDEOLOGIES AND ETHICS IN THE USES AND ABUSES OF SOUND
Koli, Finland, June 16-19, 2010

CALL FOR PAPERS (reminder: abstracts by October 12)

The 2010 WFAE conference will be held at Koli in Eastern Finland.
Koli is a plausible site for reflecting upon ideologies, ethics and
soundscapes, since it was amongst the key places of the national
romantic artist pilgrims in the late 19th century Finland. The main
organisers, Department of Finnish Language and Cultural Research at
the University of Joensuu, Finland and The Finnish Society for
Acoustic Ecology (FSAE) invite researchers and artists from all
disciplines to join this forum of discussion.

Confirmed invited and keynote speakers are (in alphabetical order):
Steven Feld, Charles Hirschkind, Bruce Johnson, Anahid Kassabian,
Andra McCartney, R. Murray Schafer, Barry Truax and Hildegard
Westerkamp.

More information at: http://www.joensuu.fi/soundscapes

Proposals are invited for papers, workshops, roundtable, or
artistic contributions relating to, but not limited to the
following topics:

NATIONS, NATIONALISM AND SOUNDSCAPE
There has been an abundance of research on the topic of nationalism
and music. What about nationalism and soundscape? Within sound of
religious movements Martin Stokes mentioned recently that in order
to understand certain Islamic movements today it would be crucial
to understand their soundscapes. Collective listening or giving ?
voices? to subjects and their religious experiences, are some
examples.

CONSTRUCTING PAST AND PROGRESS IN THE USES AND ABUSES OF SOUND
Both past and progress can be used and abused as part of many
ideologies. Have past soundscapes been used as a resource as part
of these negotiations? The ideology of progress, then, is
intimately related to the acceptance of noise as an inevitable
phenomenon.

ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF WORKING WITH THE SOUNDS
How do soundscape researchers and artists answer to the ethical
challenges of working with the sounds of other people ? and of
themselves. How do we understand cultural convergences, differences
and sameness? Or would it just be more important to learn to
tolerate the other? Should the researcher or artist make an
intervention -- or would it be best just to observe the uses and
abuses of sounds from outside?

THE COMMODIFICATION OF AURAL SPACE, SOUND AND SILENCE
How does silence, its commodification and tourism fit under the
same sky? What kind of strategies can the citizens and planners
develop in different localities in order to guarantee the
soundscape comfort, tourism as a means of livelihood and the
touristic search of silence all at the same time? What about the
urban environment with its ubiquitous transphonic phenomena? Who
has the right to fill the urban space with music, and how is it
currently happening?

Please send ABSTRACTS (max. 400 words) by October 12, 2009 to the
conference e-mail address koli@akueko.com. The abstracts are being
dealt with in early November, and the people whose papers and sonic
art works are chosen to be presented will be notified on November 10.