exploring the role of sound and listening in natural and cultural environments
You are invited to a soundwalk and performance at Pullman National Monument and State Historic Site for the Tenth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival, in celebration of Chicago Artists Month. This program is co-presented by Pullman National Monument and State Historic Site, Outdoor Afro, Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology, and Borderbend Arts Collective.
“A soundwalk is any excursion whose main purpose is listening to the environment. It is exposing our ears to every sound around us no matter where we are.” — Hildegard Westerkamp (Soundwalking)
This soundwalk begins in front of the historic Pullman factory clock tower with introductory talks by Linda Beierle Bullen, Curator at Pullman State Historic Site, and Susan Bennett, Park Ranger at Pullman National Monument. The soundwalk continues outside the historic Pullman administration building, along a route whose soundscape will include sounds of nature and the built environment. Following the soundwalk will be a performance by Chicago Phonography with readings of passages from Pullman porters’ oral histories.
Since 2009, the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology has organized and promoted numerous public soundwalks in urban and natural environments. Westerkamp and others provide eloquent descriptions of what soundwalks mean for people through years of practical and shared experience. We hope to apply and share this knowledge to raise awareness of our soundscapes, especially to learn how the reciprocal role of listening and sound making effects our quality of life.
As an ecological practice, soundwalking can be an entertainment or a method for inquiry; a call to action and a meditation, all at once or moment to moment. This aural understanding can enrich design of the built-environment as well as encourage greater care and respect for natural soundscapes.
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