Appel 2019 | City Sonic #16, international sound art festival

Transcultures, Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital and Sound Cultures, is launching a call for projects for the exhibition of the 16th edition of the City Sonic International Festival of Sound Arts which will take place, for the main installations sound trail (+ performances & workshops), in various locations in the city center of Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), from November 21 to December 1, 2019 and in Braine L’Alleud (Emergences sonores exhibition at the art school + workshops and performances, winter 19 – dates to be confirmed) and Wavre (sound trail end of January 2020 in several places to be defined).

Deadline : 29.09.2019

Selection criteria

• The call is open to any Belgian or foreign artist or group of creators/designers.
• Any work / artistic project ready to be broadcast (or in the process of being finalized) where the sound is worked as main material of creation or presenting a particular aesthetic / poetry can be subjected to this call
• In priority : sound installations multimedia/interactive/immersive likely to be able to be integrated in a city sound trail (indoor locations and outdoor possibility if secure); geo-localized, networked device…
• Proposals for performances or sound workshops (lasting up to one day with a special attention to young audiences) may also be, to a lesser extent, selected here.
• Special attention will be paid to projects proposing: an original exploration of the sound material and new forms of expression related to it, a poetic or/and critical look at the state of the world and various societal, political issues, environmental, a particular attention to the viewer/listener, an adaptability to the context of presentation and a certain autonomy/technical lightness.

Submission (email only)

• A complete file explaining your project (with the possibility of including visuals, links, diagrams or sound extracts if relevant to a better understanding of the submitted project and of your approach in general)
• A budget of your work
  • we can not select any proposal exceeding : 1500€ for  installations | 700€ for performances | 500€ for workshops
  • Please add an estimate of the shipping costs (artist + artwork) to Louvain-la-Neuve and if you need on-site housing.
  • Please indicate if there, on your side, any potential help for transport, accommodation or other… for the dissemination of your project.
• A complete technical file (involving staff and equipment needs, estimation of assembly/dismantling time)

City Sonic 2019 | Winter Sessions - Emergences

In 2003, Transcultures, Centre for Digital and Sound Cultures, initiated City Sonic in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, a festival dedicated to the diversity of sound arts in the urban space. After having been organized for a long time in and with the City of Mons, the festival has invested Charleroi in 2017 before becoming a Biennial and presenting in November 2019, a 16th edition “Winter Sessions – Emergences” in Louvain-la-Neuve (21.11> 01.12.2019) and in other partner cities of Brabant Wallon (Braine l’Alleud – dates to be confirmed, Wavre – last week of January 2020).

Each edition of this unique “manifestasound”, which has quickly developed an international reputation, presents dozens of projects of various aesthetics, with sonic dimension in situ (with works either new or re-adapted according to the place of reception) with a spirit of a trailblazer, yet travelling and unifying.

This 2019 edition is dedicated to sound emergences*, with a priority given to new hybrid audio practices, young creators and singular artistic discoveries. The sound trails in the city (punctuated with performances and workshops for young audiences and others), including the main one in Louvain-la-Neuve, are planned in partnership with UCL Culture, from November 21, 2019 to December 1, 2019 (some events may start sooner and stop a little later).

*based on the name of a programme to support projects of students from different art schools in Wallonia-Brussels conducted by Transcultures, the best of which will be broadcasted in the festival