Acoustic Justice, Acoustic Care - festival
Acoustic Justice, Acoustic Care
(The Listening Biennial)
July 9 - 12, 2026 / Berlin
Across diverse contexts and situations, the experience of being heard emerges as foundational. From personal, localized situations to broader social and national contexts, being heard supports feeling recognized, fostering mental and emotional health as well as essential forms of collective empowerment. While being heard is grounded in dialogue and the ability to speak to each other, it is clearly metaphoric as well, leading to a broader range of experiences and practices. As Gideon Calder argues, it’s important that we listen out for those voices that exceed a given acoustic arena, or that speak and narrate otherwise. There is an urgency to being heard, one that calls for greater attention as well as critical, creative ways of sounding and listening.
Extending from these concerns, we’re glad to announce a program of talks, workshops, performances and listening assemblies investigating the concept of acoustic justice, acoustic care. Acoustic justice, acoustic care is posed as a framework for addressing the structures that impact onto ways of being heard, and how it is we may listen out for the unrecognized or silenced. What types of strategies or tactics does such listening suggest? How to contend with particular acoustic norms that greatly influence the work of being heard as well as our embodied sense of feeling connected? Is not listening out for others requiring nuanced forms of sensing and acoustic imagination? And what of situations where listening is strained by what it hears – by what is unlistenable? Bringing together contributing artists, researchers, curators and organizers, the program aims to elaborate understandings of acoustic justice, acoustic care and how it may contribute to creative, critical listening cultures.
Program
Thursday, July 9, 19:00:
Opening of the Cosmopoetic Studio / launch of Acoustic Justice, Acoustic Care program
The Listening Biennial Studio, Lettestrasse 7, 10437 Berlin
With book presentation (20:00) by Maike Statz: Hosting Space.
The Studio is open, July 10 - 12, 14:00 - 19:00 each day: we invite you to drop in for restful sessions of gong meditation, to share stories and offerings, or to hang out over a fresh cup of tea or lemonade, listening and viewing related creative works by participating artists.
Friday, July 10, 19:30 - 23:00 (performances, talks)
Errant Sound project space, Gerichtstrasse 45, 13347 Berlin
Manuela García Aldana, Circular Listening
Yuri Tuma, Interspecies Communication and Technologies of Misunderstanding
~pes (Elizabeth Gallón Droste / Pablo Torres Gómez), I build my language with rocks
( ether o ) Chia-Liang Lai, performance
Saturday, July 11, 13:00 - 17:00 (workshops)
Helmholtzplatz / Nachbarschaftshaus, 10437 Berlin
Dora Durkesac, Shiver workshop
Carlotta Sofia Grassi, Politics of Entrustment: Listening Through Difference
Paula Montecinos, Live Radio Broadcast with sound pieces from Acoustic Justice - Acoustic Care group
18:00: Listening Assembly (moderated Brandon LaBelle & Katía Truijen): On questions of listening, with Opening Gesture: A short sensory opening with local tree resin with Patricia Hegglin
Saturday, July 11, 19:30 - 23:00 (performances, screening)
Helmholtzplatz / Nachbarschaftshaus, 10437 Berlin
Marie Tirard, Poems and Lullabies of the Post-Nostalgic
Hui Ye, Songs of Oblivion: Prelude
Nunzia Picciallo, performance
Anja Kreysing, Segment 19 - FLUME
Sunday, July 12, 13:00 - 17:00 (workshops)
Helmholtzplatz / Nachbarschaftshaus, 10437 Berlin
Marialuisa Capurso, Opening, touching spaces
Inneke Taal, Breathing Choir - a voiceless articulation
Nunzia Picciallo, Somatic practice, listening workshop
18:00: Listening Assembly (moderated Brandon LaBelle & Katía Truijen): On questions of listening, with Opening Gesture: A short sensory opening with local tree resin with Patricia Hegglin
Sunday, July 12, 19:30 - 23:00 (performances, screening)
Helmholtzplatz / Nachbarschaftshaus, 10437 Berlin
Hanna Grześkiewicz / Yasemin Keskintepe, On Burning Silence
James Hazel, on attending to precarious/classed embodiments
Max Bloching, screening
Marialuisa Capurso, performance
Contributing artists & speakers (Berlin):
Max Bloching, Marialuisa Carpuso, Elizabeth Gallón Droste, Dora Durkesac, Pablo Torres Gómez, Carlotta Sofia Gras, Hanna Grześkiewicz / Yasemin Keskintepe, James Hazel, Patricia Hegglin, Anja Kreysing, Brandon LaBelle, Paula Montecinos, ( ether o ) Chia-Liang Lai, Nunzia Picciallo, Morten Poulsen, Inneke Taal, Marie Tirard, Katía Truijen, Yuri Tuma, Hui Ye
Additional contributing artists and researchers (radio project, related publication):
Katarina Blomqvist, Inês Nin, Carole Rieussec, Maria Ristani, Sofia T. Theodosiadou, Lorena Moreno Vera