For the duration of the festival, Bonn will be transformed into a vast platform for artistic production and presentation, discussion and intermediation of sound art and music in public spaces.
In the fifth year of bonn hoeren international artists will transform Bonn
into a city of sound
A unique international festival for urban sound art will take place from the 12th to the
22nd of June in Bonn. Over this time, the thematic ideas of the first four years of bonn
hoeren will be condensed and developed further both artistically and discursively. For the
duration of the festival, Bonn will be transformed into a vast platform for artistic production
and presentation, discussion and intermediation of sound art and music in public spaces. At
the same time the entire population of the city will experience a singular celebration of
sound!
From the 12th of June 2014 on, sound installations which have originated around the city
over the last four years will be temporarily joined by new works from international sound
artists - among others from both city sound artists for 2014, Stefan Rummel and Max
Eastley, from the Japanese master Akio Suzuki, or from Kaffe Matthews. The resulting
parcours of sound installations and interventions in public spaces will invite both the
people of Bonn and their guests to experience the city from a completely new perspective
during the entire running time of the festival.
On the 13th of June two exhibitions will be opened: "Sites & Sounds" in the gkg, as well
as Maryanne Amacher: "Intelligent Life" in Bonner Kunstverein.
On the second weekend, from the 19th to the 22nd of June 2014, an international
symposium, open to the public, exploring and extending theoretical and practical discourse
on the subject of sound art and the city will take place at various locations in Bonn.
In the evenings Erwin Stache, Sam Auinger & Bruce Odland, To Rococo Rot, Akio
Suzuki & Aki Onda, and Miki Yui among others will present their city-specific concerts
and performances.
In addition to the numerous sound installations throughout the city, a planned grand musical
event is sure to be one of the artistic highlights of the festival: the stadtsinfonie bonn (city
symphony bonn), performing site-specific compositions by Charles Ives, Wolfgang
Mitterer and Alvin Curran. On the afternoon of the 20th of June, downtown Bonn will be
transformed in to the scene of an enormous open-air concert, with hundreds of
participants – professional and amateur – from the central Muensterplatz all the way
down to the banks of the Rhine. For nearly four hours, the city will become a vast concert
hall without walls!
In the scope of FESTIVAL bonn hoeren 2014, groups of students of architecture and
sound art from diverse institutions will also collaborate under the guidance of renowned
sound artists and scholars and conduct research in Bad Godesberg, Beuel and the Nordstadt,
developing projects and performing creative interventions on site.
ADMISSION TO ALL EVENTS IS FREE!
bonn hoeren 2010 - 2013
Every year since 2010 the »Beethovenstiftung für Kunst und Kultur der Bundesstadt Bonn«
(the Beethoven Foundation for Art and Culture of the Federal City of Bonn) has appointed a
renowned sound artist within the framework of the project 'bonn hoeren‘ (“Listening to
Bonn”) to be that year's city sound artist. The artistic investigations and presentations of the
city sound artist are closely tied to the city of Bonn, to its inhabitants and visitors, and to
their urban living and working spaces. Each of the city sound artists has carried out their
work with a specific thematic focus.
A project of:
Beethovenstiftung für Kunst und Kultur der Bundesstadt Bonn
Artistic direction of the complete festival:
Carsten Seiffarth, curator and project director of bonn hoeren since 2010.
Co-direction of the symposium and direction of the student workshops:
Carsten Stabenow, founder and director of the international project platform “tuned city”.
Image: akio suzuki (jp), oto-date bonn. installation auf zwei routen durch die stadt. foto: carsten seiffarth
Press and public relations:
creaCtive, Vera Firmbach presse@bonnhoeren.de Tel. 0049-179-2400866
A schedule/program and further information online now at:
http://www.bonnhoeren.de/_2014/festival-bonn-hoeren-2014/
With the cooperation of:
Bonner Kunstverein, Gesellschaft für Kunst und Gestaltung Bonn, Universität Bonn, Fabrik45,
Bonner Personenschiffahrt, Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar, RWTH Aachen, Alanus
Hochschule für Kunst und Gesellschaft, Initiative Hören and many others.
Different venues - Bonn