Murmurans Mundus: Sonic Ecology and Beyond is an international interdisciplinary conference focused on the current matters of acoustic ecology perceived from the perspective of arts and both social and natural sciences. The aim of the conference is to contribute to the international discussion on topics such as noise pollution, options of interpretation and manipulation of the acoustic environment or possibilities to reflex “acoustic ecology” in the educational process.
The conference picks up where the founding conference, CENSE, left off. The Central European Network for Sonic Ecologies conference was held in Budapest at the end of November and beginning of December 2018.
The project is based on collaboration of Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, Ústí nad Labem (CZ), Faculty of Education at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (CZ), The Soundscape Research Studio, Institute of Cultural Studies, University Wroclaw (PL), Faculty of Arts, Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra (SK) and Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest (HU).
Three basic theses, formulated by the composer and philosopher Raymond Murray Schafer in 1977, introduced the idea of acoustic ecology, including his conception of soundscapes, of the ecology of sound, and of the deep listening method. The moment of a factual recording of a sonic situation, of a soundscape, and the further processing of such a recording is seen as less important in this context than the existential and environmental situation connected with the actual act of subjective listening to the manifest acoustic events present in the given space and time.
Since the topic of acoustic ecology in Central Europe is still marginal, this conference aims to ask the right questions, rather than to provide clear answers to them. The program of the event will take place at the Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. Apart from five thematic blocks, the conference program will also include workshops, sound performances, sound walks and an exhibition of sound installations.