Sound workshop
Exploring the interrelations of sound, space, and memory through embodied, ethical listening
Topos: Zagreb Fair
The workshop is intended for sound artists, composers, improvisers, multimedia artists, field recordists, musicians, and interdisciplinary researchers with a strong interest in the field of sound.
Due to the limited number of participants, please send a short biography to udrugaiii@gmail.com by 1st, July 2026. Each participant should have their own recording device (ideally a sound recorder), headphones, a notebook or digital journal, and the Reaper software (free to download) installed on their laptop.
The workshop consists of five working sessions, two fieldwork days, and three “studio” days, which will take place at the Centre for Culture Novi Zagreb between 11:00 and 14:00. The schedule for the fieldwork days will be determined later, depending on weather conditions.
Mnemosonic Topographies: Listening as Sensory Epistemology is a workshop that explores how sound, space, and memory mutually shape our experience of place. Through listening exercises, fieldwork, and creative mapping of the Zagreb Fair, participants will discover how micro environments become co authors of sonic experience and how memories are inscribed into the acoustic traces of space. The workshop encourages conceptual listening, attentiveness, and an ethical relationship with the environment, and concludes with the creation of a short sound piece or a “sound map” of one’s personal experience of the Zagreb Fair.
The workshop will take place in Zagreb, organised by the Centre for Culture Novi Zagreb and the Association for Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Research, as part of the project Spaces of New Zagreb 1: Zagreb Fair, from 10 to 14 July 2026.
Support: Ministry for Culture and Media of the Republic of Zagreb and the City of Zagreb - Office for Culture and Civil Society
AIIR is institutionally supported by the City of Zagreb - Office for Culture and Civil Society, and Foundation "Kultura nova"
Workshop Objectives
By the end of the workshop, participants will:
-Understand the concept of mnemosonic topography as a method of mapping memory through sound and place.
-Practise listening-with — as an active, relational, and ethical act.
-Explore the micro environment as an active co creator of sonic experience.
-Develop a short mnemosonic sound piece or a reflective map combining field recordings, memory, and spatial awareness.
Workshop Structure
1. Session — Conceptual Foundations (2–3 h)
Centre for Culture Novi Zagreb, 11:00–14:00
Purpose: Introduce the theoretical framework and key concepts in an accessible language.
-Introduction and contextualisation: sound art, ecological awareness, phenomenology.
-Key concepts:
-Mnemosonic topography — mapping the interplay of sound and memory in a specific space.
-Listening-with — listening as co-presence rather than extraction.
-Biophony — the collective sound of living organisms within a habitat.
-Micro environment — the immediate, small spatial context shaping sound.
-Case study: listening session, examples, observations.
-Discussion: “When has a place ‘inscribed itself’ into your memory through sound?”
2. Session — Sensory Work (2–3 h)
Zagreb Fair
Purpose: Shift participants into an embodied, receptive state of listening.
-Somatic listening exercise: guided meditations, attention, and intention practices.
-Mapping resonance: quiet toning and observing the interaction of sound and space; site specific intervention; interacting with the environment; using sound objects and found sounds.
-Short journaling: sensations, emotions, micro details.
3. Session — Field Practice (2–3 h)
Zagreb Fair
Purpose: Apply the method within one’s chosen environment.
-Selecting a micro environment, experimenting, choosing a conceptual approach.
-Instructions:
-10–15 minutes of silent presence before recording.
-15–30 minute field recording using any device.
-Notes on conditions and observations; written and visual archive.
-A short memory fragment or sensory association linked to the space.
-Ethical reminder: minimal intrusion; respect for living beings and privacy.
-Repeat the process several times.
4. Session — Mnemosonic Mapping (2–3 h)
Centre for Culture Novi Zagreb, 11:00–14:00
Purpose: Integrate sound, space and memory into a creative artefact.
-Demonstration: layering recordings as memory fragments; creating a sound score or visual “sound map”.
-Group work: sharing materials and discussing the role of the micro environment.
-Optional tools: basic audio editing (Reaper), visual or conceptual scores.
5. Session — Sharing and Reflection (2–3 h)
Centre for Culture Novi Zagreb, 11:00–14:00
Purpose: Circular exchange of insights and connecting theory with practice.
-Participant presentations: sound works or maps.
-Group discussion:
-How did the environment act as a co author?
-What unexpected memories emerged?
-How did the act of listening change your relationship to the space?
-Final reflection: ethics of sound work; historical and ecological awareness.
About author
About the Mentor
Manja Ristić is a sound artist, violinist, composer and curator born in Belgrade. She graduated from the Faculty of Music Arts in Belgrade and completed her postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music in London.
After a rich career in classical music, her work in recent decades has focused on interdisciplinary sound research, field recording and experimental radio art. She collaborates with international media organisations such as BBC, ORF, INA GRM, Radiophrenia, Kunstradio—Radiokunst, HRT, RTV Slovenia, Radio Belgrade and many others. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the honorary Phonurgia Nova Award and the Golden Award for Expanded Media presented by the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia, and she was shortlisted for the Académie Charles Cros Sélection Musiques Expérimentales 2024. She has curated programmes for institutions such as Ars Electronica (Austria), Cona Institute (Slovenia) and CIFRA World (UAE).
