Matters. Platform for Industrial Culture

Can a year have a sound?

A question has been raised by the British Library and Sound of the Year Awards is trying to answer it.

For me here at Matters. Platform for Industrial Culture, the sound of the year were the voices of several wonderful people from Ukraine, who wrote and recorded soundwalks from the country in war. Along with those voices were the sounds of distant explosions, as well as the silencing of the world just after they'd occur.
One such sound event, recorded by Ihor Babaiev, made it to the shortlist of Sound of the Year Awards category of, just rightly so, sound of the year. It's not about the wins for us, far from it. It's about remembering and reminding, and being present.

Sharing an open call for Ukrainian creators of experimental / ambient!

UKRAINE RESISTANCE RADIO

Open call – Deadline for first broadcast – 23:59 Wednesday 15 March

The Ukraine Resistance Radio project aims to amplify the experimental sounds and music of Ukrainian artists and their collaborations with International musical allies.

We’re using the medium of radio – online and terrestrial broadcast – as a chance to go beyond words and jam available outlets across Europe and internationally with signals of Ukrainian expression. The first step is collecting sound, including from artists inside the country working amidst power cuts, military service, and other obstacles, and sharing space with Ukrainian artists working abroad.

We encourage any personal expression — surprising and experimental music, field recordings, noise, experimental and DIY electronics, and other sonic inventions that are often at the edges or unheard.

One track per artist, 7 minutes maximum, submitted via the form in English or Ukrainian.

Selected sounds will be played on air on Radio Vilnius on 19 March, with additional sounds and music on other outlets.

Ukraine Resistance Radio is an ad hoc project, curated in partnership between Sophia Bulgakova (UA/NL), Dmytro Fedorenko (UA, Prostir, I Shall Sing Until My Land is Free), Peter Kirn (US/DE, Establishment, CDM), and Andrius Mamontovas (LT).

https://forms.gle/oBs2XAhy8ykVhjU49

Borrowing an image: Kyiv TV tower, destroyed by Russian bombardment in February 2022, as photographed in 2011. (CC-BY-NC-SA) Matt Shalvatis

It's a gloomy anniversary today, marked with endless anxiety. One year seems forever. Even one day would have been too much.
Despite the war - rather because of it - I met some brilliant people this year and we created some beautiful things together. OIDA is a reminder of those things. Albeit the stories are far from easy listening, they each open up an intimate experience of Ukraine in war, told by those experiencing it, and I invite you to listen and share those stories. Find link in the comment bellow.

All the proceeds from the sales of this album are going towards the support of Медичний Добровольчий Батальйон Госпітальєри • Hospitallers Paramedics. With the album or without it, do not stop supporting humanitarian and other causes, nothing is yet over.

The album will soon be available directly in Vilnius and Vienna, ping us up if you need info.

(The picture features a music album, unfolded, on a flat surface. On top of the album, there is a photo of a man behind a plot of red flowers, next to it - a folded poster, sticking out of the folded album - an audio CD.)

Praėjusią savaitę šauniausia įtraukios kultūros žurnalistė ir Kotryna Lingienė pakalbino apie O​Ï​DA - skaitmeninį ir fizinį albumą, kurį išleidome praėjusių metų prieššventiniame chaose.
Apie tai, kas ir kaip dėliota bei dėl ko, pasakojo Levytskyi Dima ir aš, Daina. Apie kūrybą kare, prasmę kalbėti apie vieną miestą kitam mieste, ir bendrakūrybą.
Pokalbio įrašą rasite LRT mediatekoje, klausykite nuo 11:20 min.

Pirkdamos/i O​Ï​DA vis dar galite paremti paramos reikalingus karo paramedikus Ukrainoje. Nuoroda į albumą - komentare žemiau.

EN

Last week the coolest journalist of inclusive culture, Kotryna Lingienė, has invited to talk about O​Ï​DA - digital as well as physical album that we put out in the end-of-year chaos.
Levytskyi Dima and myself talk 'bout the creative processes and all the whys and hows. So it's about creating in the times of war, about the reasons why talk about one city in another, and about cocreation.
The talk is in LRT Mediatheque, however, Lithuanian only :( In any case, it's there from 11:20 min.

P.s. You can still buy O​Ï​DA via our bandcamp and chip in to support Ukraine paramedics. For the link to the album see in the comments.

Kultūros savaitė. Energetikos ir technikos muziejuje Vilniuje atidaryta nauja erdvė, Skulptorius Mykolas Sauka, Ukrainos miestai kaip garsiniai meno kūriniai Energetikos ir technikos muziejuje Vilniuje atidaryta nauja erdvė, leidžianti lankytojams interaktyviai pažinti energeti...

Morning. I've just launched the preorder of
OÏDA
which is a storytelling - soundwalk album that we worked on since June 2022 with Levytskyi Dima and a group of Ukrainian artists, volunteers, activists: Mariia Borysova, Svitlana Dovhan, Ivan Skoryna, Oleksii Podat, Ihor Babaiev, Iryna Rybakova and others.
The plan was to launch the album next week, when the copies reach Kyiv, however, in the meanwhile Russia is launching missiles on Ukraine, so there is no point in waiting.
All of the proceeds from the albums - digital and physical copies alike - will go to support humanitarian organizations such as Медичний Добровольчий Батальйон Госпітальєри • Hospitallers Paramedics.

Many thanks to all those that worked on the project for all of these months, regardless of shellings, blackouts, that have been available between the periods of hiding in bomb shelters and quiet moments. Full list of contributors as well as technical staff - in the link below (please see comments).

Nauji leidiniai mediatekoje!
Labai lauktas Girnų Giesmės albumas "Pjūtis" + kolekcinis Sala albumas "paSaloje" (vinilas + foto + filmas + diskografija), kurį išleido Garsų gelmės, jau laukia klausytojų. Mediatekoje yra šiam tikslui skirti grotuvai, galite atsinešti savo ausines, jeigu nenorite naudotis mūsų siūlomomis ;)

//

New arrivals in our mediatheque!!
Long avaited vinil "Pjūtis" from Girnų Giesmės + a collectors' edition album (vinil + photo + film + discography of the artist) "paSaloje" by SALA (released by Garsų gelmės) are on our shelves, waiting to be listened to. Mediatheque has equipment just for this, bring your own headphones if you don't want to use ours ;)

Kol darbuojamės prie būsimo leidinio, kaupiam Mediatekos turinį - visą jį fiziniais formatais rasite Kauno menininkų namuose, skaitykloje, čiupinėjimui ir klausymui. Ligšiol neturėjome nieko iš lietuvių static motion leiblo, tad voila:
rookas - Concrete Haze
rookas - static motion
v/a - static motion - stasis
Undveld - Night Wanderer

--
While working on a release, we're continuing to collect things you can fold out and listen to in our mediateque in Kaunas Artists House. Until now we haven't had anything from Lithuanian label static motion, hence voila:

rookas - Concrete Haze
rookas - static motion
v/a - static motion - stasis
Undveld - Night Wanderer

📷 - Agnė / Kauno menininkų namai / Kaunas Artists' House

EN below

Šįvakar pasiklausysime dalykų kartu su Armantu Gečiausku (Arma Agharta + Tapekiosk) ir pasikalbėsime apie kasetes, leidybą ar tiesiog viską iš eilės. Prisijunkit, vis tiek lauke lis.

https://fb.me/e/2VxKhbK2c

EN

Tonight we'll listen to some things along with Armantas Gečiauskas (Arma Agharta + Tapekiosk) and we'll talk about cassettes, releases or everything else. Come join, outside it's gonna be raining anyway.

https://fb.me/e/2VxKhbK2c

Took a while to post a visual report of last Friday. Thanks to all brilliant people that worked on this to make sound, storytelling, light embrace us.

(English below)

GANA 2 (Antanas Dombrovskij) (LT) (gyvai)
Marija Rasa Kudabaitė (BE/LT) (gyvai)
Pijus Džiugas Meižis (LT) (gyvai)

Garso pasivaikščiojimas:
Balsas Lusya Zoria
Muzika ir mixas Daina Dieva
Įrašymo darbai Євгеній Чабан (Yevhenii Chaban)
Lauko įrašai Bakhmute Ihor Babaiev
Vertimas (UA>EN) Dmytro Kozak
Vertimas (EN>LT) Andrei Vazyanau
Nuotraukos, video Svitlana Dolbysheva, Masha Vushedsky, Maria Matiashova, Iryna Rybakova ir Ihor Babaiev
Autorius ir režisierius Ihor Babaiev

Draugai ir partneriai: Miskyi Theater, Ghia
Garsas: Disco4You
TV: Node47
Dizainas: Inga Navickaitė - Drąsutė / Hands on Press
Nuotraukos: Artūras Novikovas

Industrinės kultūros platforma „Matters“, nuo 2020 - Kauno menininkų namų šeimoje, yra „Kaunas – Europos kultūros sostinė 2022“ programos dalis

EN

GANA 2 (Antanas Dombrovskij) (LT) (gyvai)
Marija Rasa Kudabaitė (BE/LT) (gyvai)
Pijus Džiugas Meižis (LT) (gyvai)

Soundwalk:
Voice Lusya Zoria
Music and soundmix Daina Dieva
Voice recording Євгеній Чабан (Yevhenii Chaban)
Sound recording in Bakhmut Ihor Babaiev
Translation (UA>EN) Dmytro Kozak
Translation (EN>LT) Andrei Vazyanau
Photo by Svitlana Dolbysheva, Masha Vushedsky, Maria Matiashova, Iryna Rybakova and Ihor Babaiev
Written and directed by Ihor Babaiev

Friends & Partners: Miskyi Theater, Ghia
Sound: Disco4You
TV: Node47
Vibrophone: Kaunas State Philharmonic
Design: Inga Navickaitė - Drąsutė / Hands on Press
Photo: Artūras Novikovas

MATTERS Platform for Industrial Culture, since 2020 - part of Kaunas Artists House family, is part of Kaunas European Capital of Culture 2022 programme