AudioVisions

The 16th to 18th centuries were a time of musical innovation in India. The exhibition “Rhythm and Color” at Berlin’s Museum of Islamic Art explores how music of this period was represented in painting. Musicians from a geographical area from Iran to India were supported by the courts and experimented with their own combinations of melodic modes, rhythmic structures, and timbres.

In their audioVisions series, the Trickster Orchestra takes up these entanglements of sound and image: Brief sonic interventions engage the instruments shown in the paintings in live musical performances in the museum’s Book Art Cabinet. They invite visitors to approach historical images in new ways during their museum visit: Through improvisation, outstanding soloists translate themes, visual rhythms, colorings, and motifs of visual art into contemporary soundscapes. In a musical conversation with the images, the instruments move away from their traditions to give expression to our entangled present. They create a sonic envelope that widens the gaze and promises to involve the ear in new visual experiences. Visitors with visual impairments are especially invited to participate in the performances in the Book Art Cabinet.

The audioVisions are curated by Philip Geisler (Trickster Orchestra / Fellow of the 4A_Laboratory: Art Histories, Archaeologies, Anthropologies, Aesthetics of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz).

PERFORMANCES

“Equilibrium” – 23. May, 16:30
Sebastian Dreyer – Surbahar
Ravi Srinivasan – Pakhavaj

“Entanglements” – 15. June, 16:30
Asal Karimi – Kemenche
Mohamad Fityan – Nay

Finissage “Festivals and the Seasons” – 25. June, 16:30
Dr. Sumeet Anand Pandey – Dhrupad & Tanpura
Roshanak Rafani – Daf