Drifting Sound
a performative conversation between Butoh dancer Nora Freier & media artist Budhaditya Chattopadhyay
followed by an improv session with Bivas, Janardan Ghosh, Pradip C & others
7 December 2023, 7 pm onwards
at Alliance Française du Bengale, Park Mansions, Park Street, Kolkata
Synopsis
Sounds move in all directions. Is it possible to capture them? Often, sounds remain elusive. Avoice speaking in earnest changes the meaning based on the listening positionality of the audience. One outside the constellation cannot grasp resonances – as sounds travel from being a tangible sensation to an intangible memory. The body, on the other hand, has a ground to stand on. The movement of bodies is itinerant, but they occupy concrete spaces
as they respond to dance and the cadence of the moment. Bodies may mimic the elusive sound in their endeavor to hold the music in the container of the corporeal, but it’s the shadow of the sound that circles around the body like ephemeral ashes. In the improvisational performance “Drifting Sound,” Butoh dancer Nora Freier (Berlin, Germany) will converse with media artist Budhaditya Chattopadhyay (Den Haag, The Netherlands) in a live act as their first collaboration. Through their performative conversation, the city of Kolkata will be enlivened with the participatory vibrations on its surfaces of contact.
The performance is part of the sound exchange program of the Europe-based media arts organization and collective Sound Across and launches its activities in the subcontinent.
Sound Across is a public platform and a global forum that explores the themes of democracy, equity, and environment across borders and cultures.
Artist biographies
Budhaditya Chattopadhyay is a media artist, researcher, performer, and writer. Chattopadhyay produces works for large-scale installations and live performance addressing contemporary issues of environment and ecology, migration, race, and decoloniality. His
works have been widely exhibited, performed, or presented across the globe. Chattopadhyay holds a PhD in Artistic Research and Sound Studies from the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, Leiden University, and is currently a Visiting Professor at the Critical Media Lab, Basel, Switzerland. Website: https://budhaditya.org/.
Nora Freier grew up in the northern part of Italy, surrounded by massive mountains and impressive nature, although she is currently based in Berlin since 2008. This topographic shift has influenced her perception of space, sound, and movement. After studying Naturopathy she started to experiment with sound and different forms of body work until she came across Butoh. Since 2021 she is training with different Butoh teachers, and it became her main form of artistic expression.
Culture Monks 