International conference organised by Pauline Nadrigny (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), David Martens (Université KU Leuven) and Alexandre Galand, in collaboration with PointCulture and Q-O2.

Depicting places. This is a common practice in all art forms. What about the particular fortune of the country portrait genre in the field of sound art? How can composition, field recording, radiophony, and even cinematographic and poetic forms in their sound dimension trace the sensitive identity of a certain territory? More broadly, in what way are such practices able to make a portrait and according to what specific modalities do they do so?

As far as the sound arts are concerned, the country portrait presents interesting characteristics, in contrast to the traditional “landscape” approach that has long prevalently informed our relationship to the natural environment, even in its sound dimension.

In this context, the portrait, which starts from the depiction of individualities, acts as an alternative model: it allows us to give voice to the acoustic niches that inhabit a territory and give it its identity. But how do sound artists seek to portray environments? What part do they play in their approach to the different realities that make up a “country”, from the sounds of the biotope to the words of its inhabitants? These two days will attempt to answer these questions by alternating listening sessions, lectures and discussions, and by bringing in theorists of the sound environment, ecology and acoustic design, as well as practitioners working in the field of field recording, composition and radio.