Istanbul Split

In January 2009, within the framework of the subject area Audiovisual Art – a key aspect in New Media teachings at the Academy of Fine Arts HBK Saar – a field trip to Istanbul took place. For one week, during a field recording workshop, the participants set out with various equipment for sound hunting in the megacity.Together with Cem Güney, a Turkish musician and composer, it was possible to get to locations which would not have been accessible to regular visitors. The recordings of markets, mosques, ferryboats, suburbs, demonstrations, street vendors,craftsmen and scenes in cafés in the five selected electroacoustic compositions constitute a portrait of a city, in which Eastern and Western cultures, religions and traditions converge – as perhaps in no other European city. All pieces composed in 2009. Special thanks to Maile Colbert.