Resynthesising Identities

Discussion with Aldana Duoraan, Stas Shärifulla, Victoria Sarangova, hosted by Giada Dalla Bonta

00:00

Free entry

Please note the venue and date change for this event. Morphine Raum has a capacity of 50 people, first-come-first-served.

A revival of anticolonial movements has emerged among multiple non-Russian ethnicities within the country in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For ethnicities rooted in the expansive and heterogeneous territories historically subjugated by the Russian Empire and currently subsumed within Russia today, the word »sustain« holds a poignant resonance in today's world. How to sustain collective identity in the face of assimilation? How can you sing the songs of your ancestors if you don't understand your mother tongue? Is it possible to preserve collective memory when your history is being erased? Can a message of hope and dignity still be conveyed to the community through arts, when your culture is labeled as »folkloric,« displayed only to perpetuate the colonizer's false benevolence and to maintain the status quo?

This session, incorporating sonic, performative, and discussion formats, will delve into the concept of re-synthesis. It goes beyond being just a sound processing technique for manipulating source material; rather, it serves as a critical approach to rebuilding the culture – the one aimed to effectively sidestep the colonial gaze and to foster collective empathy and connection instead, especially in the situations when artists are being disconnected from their roots, whether because of assimilation, or migration, or both.
 
The session will feature sonic artists, researchers, and musicians paying tribute to their indigenous roots concealed beneath the umbrella of Russian colonialism. Aldana Duoraan, a Sakha khomus player from Prague, will present her mouth harp performance techniques. Artist Victoria Sarangova (Oirad-Kalmyk) and artist and researcher Stas Shärifulla (Bashqort) will showcase their methods of working with memories – both synthetic and real – that connect them to their roots. Hosting the session will be Giada Dalla Bonta, an Italian writer, curator and sound scholar based in Berlin working at the intersection of art.

Event Access

Please consult our Accessibility section for information on volume / lighting, mobility, age restrictions and other access information.

Stas Shärifulla is supported by Pro Helvetia.

Supported by SHAPE+ which is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.