An interesting event is happening in the realm of sound artworks. It is called The Listening Biennial (TLB) and it’s dubbed “an art and research initiative focusing on questions of listening”. The second edition of TLB opened in early July 2023 (the first one happened in 2021) with an exhibit at PAROLA UP Fine Arts Gallery, which will run until the 11th of August this year.
TLB was founded by Brandon LaBelle, a Berlin-based artist and a scholar in Sound and Media Studies. The curator for TLB 2023 is Dayang Magdalena Nirvana T. Yraola, PhD, an associate professor at the UP College of Fine Arts. Other curators include Luisa Santos, PhD from Portugal; Guely Morato from Bolivia; and Rayya Badran from Lebanon.
TLB is not limited to the sound installation exhibit in UP Diliman because it also features exhibits, listening sessions or tambayans, performances, symposia, and a sound camp happening in various locations in Asia. Aside from UP, the other activities are happening in Alitaptap Artists Community (Cavite, Philippines), Silpakorn University (Bangkok, Thailand), Multimedia University (Cyberjaya, Malaysia), on the air and online via DZUP.
With the theme “Listening to/as Connection”, the event is presented by UP College of Fine Arts (UPCFA Admin) and PAROLA UP Fine Arts Gallery; co-presented by Alitaptap Artists Community (Philippines), DZUP, University Hotel, Multimedia University Faculty of Creative Media (Malaysia), Silpakorn University (Thailand), Camões, I.P. Instituto da Cooperação e da Lingua Portugal (Japan); sponsored by UP Diliman Office of the Chancellor, UP College of Mass Communication, Goethe-Institut Philippinen, The Japan Foundation, Manila; and supported by Anima Art Space, BMLab (Philippines), Drawing Room Manila, UPD Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts, UP President’s Committee for Culture and the Arts, and the UP Computer Center.
The public can still catch the “there is no sound artist, just sound art” exhibit at PAROLA from Tuesdays to Fridays until August 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Please send an e-mail to cfagallery.upd@up.edu.ph if you’d like a guided group tour. The exhibition is free and open to the public. However, pre-registration is requested via the same e-mail address.
The first section of the exhibit at the ground floor lobby of PAROLA is titled “use your ears,” a playful take on the old Filipino adage “Mata kasi ang gamitin, hindi bibig!” (“Look with your eyes, not your mouth!”). It is a listening exhibit that features the works of 25 artists from different regions selected by the Biennial’s curators.
One can find the second and third sections of the exhibit in various locations throughout the building. These feature sound installation works from 19 Philippine-based artists, as well as a restaging of “Sandata” by Lirio Salvador, and “Atang, a Sound Prayer” from last year’s UP Diliman Arts and Culture Festival.
For more details about TLB 2023, visit the website for Asian events at https://listeningbiennial2023.dayangyraola.com/ or the web site of TLB 2023 global project: https://listeningbiennial.net/biennial-editions/listening-biennial-second-edition