Capturing the sonic, sultry and serene sounds of Suzhou

“Native Soundscape: The Sonic Geography of Suzhou,” a project initiated by Bu Da, director of the Han Shan Art Museum in Suzhou, recently debuted.

“Today, exhibitions at art museums in China have nearly the same outlook,” said Bu. “So we wanted to try something new and meaningful.”

The project involves 16 participants and 20 observers, covering architecture, filmmaking, sound design, curating, music anthropology and Kunqu Opera from Suzhou, Shanghai, Xi’an, Chengdu, Wuhan and Yinchuan.

“Half of them come from Suzhou and half from other cities,” said Bu. “The project needs some ears that are unfamiliar with the sounds of Suzhou, because they might identify something new and fresh, and some that are familiar with Suzhou, as they have a better knowledge of Suzhou sounds.”

Bu sees Suzhou as a historical city teeming with cultural resources.

"This project is similar to a field study that records not only the sounds of ordinary life in Suzhou, but also sounds that might be ignored,” he said. "Sound is something deep in one's memory. Sometimes what you hear stays longer in your mind than what you see. We hope to use these sounds to capture Suzhou's past and present."

During the project's first phase, participants and observers read and discussed the book “Non-places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity” written by Marc Augé, as well as chapters from “Memory, History, Forgetting” by Paul Ricoeur.

The project includes fading and emerging sounds that come from ordinary locals, artists, curators, craftsman and inheritors of intangible cultural heritage. All these sound samples will later be categorized and edited for a "visual+audio" exhibition at the museum that begins in January.

“An ideal art museum should be more open and comprehensive to cater to changes of the new era,” Bu said. “We wanted this project to be a mutual learning experiment with participants and observers, instead of curators and instructors. Through such mutual learning, we hope to explore a new path that links the museum, public, artists and regional culture of Suzhou."

Ti Gong