Rhythms of the Inter-Island

Listen, record, create…

The School of English at HKU in collaboration with the Inter-Island Festival 2023 is inviting students to participate in a collaborative project, “Rhythms of the Inter-Island,” by contributing their own sound to a collective musical installation and performance that explores the cultural and ecological dimensions of life near the sea through auditory experience, enjoyment, and reflection. Participating students will attend three workshops on listening and sound collecting, composition, and field recording, taught by local professionals and artists. The workshops will involve field trips, hands-on practice and interaction, as well as illustration to engage students’ critical thinking and creative skills. Students will be invited to create their own audio projects, individually or in pairs, in response to the workshops and in conversation with their own disciplines, to be included in the Festival in November 2023.

To participate in this project, students must be available and committed to attend the following group sessions:

  • Briefing session at HKU: Fri, 1st Sep. (1 - 2 pm)
  • Workshop 1: Soundwalk on Lantau Island by soundpocket, Sat, 9 Sep. (4 hours):
  • Workshop 2: Composer Peter Millward (celestial 天上) at HKU. Sat, 23 Sep. (2 – 5 pm)
  • Workshop 3: Field recording and DIY microphone by sound artist Andio Lai at Islanders Space (Peng Chau), Sat, 14 Oct. (5.5 hours)
  • Submission of audio components for inclusion in the Inter-Island Festival 2023: 30 Oct.

Outdoor workshop dates may be changed depending on weather.

Registration is open to all HKU undergraduate students.
Participation is limited to 12 students.
Deadline for registration is 24 August 2023.

No prior training is necessary.

This project is supported by the Transdisciplinary Experiential Learning Fund. Students who complete an audio project to include in the Inter-Island Festival will be able to receive funding support to cover expenses incurred in the production.

REGISTER NOW

If you have any questions, please contact the project coordinator Dr Otto Heim (oheim@hku.hk) at the School of English.

Collaboration Partner:

The Inter-Island Festival 2023 (https://interislandfestival.live) is an art and life event that borrows the existing inter-island ferry connection between Peng Chau, Mui Wo, Chi Ma Wan and Cheung Chau, to celebrate and build upon the rich and varied cultures of living by the sea in Hong Kong. The Festival aims at strengthening the bounds between island communities, promoting the unique cultures that develop in the inter-island region, and advocate for respect for the islands’ natural characteristics and the diverse non-human communities living on land and in the sea. We hope to shape a path for a common future on the islands.

With long-term objectives, the Festival is organised as a bi-annual art and life event that reminds residents of the unique place where they live. During the Festival, island residents and visitors can engage in various activities (tours, workshops, performances), visit neighbouring communities and celebrate life by the sea in their own way.

Inter-island Festival is initiated by Peng Chau residents Myriem Alnet, Chan Chun-kit and Yip Kai-chun.

Workshop Facilitators:

soundpocket 聲音掏腰包 (https://www.soundpocket.org.hk/v2/) is a registered charity founded in 2008. It promotes the art of sound and listening and its research and education in Hong Kong. The Library by soundpocket is a website of sounds that tell stories about Hong Kong culture and society. It aims at creating a community of active listeners who are curious about listening as a way of knowing ourselves and each other. It also aims at contributing to our public culture of listening.

Peter Millward is founder of Celestial 天上 (http://hongkongdubstation.com/info/), a Hong Kong based collective who have produced nine albums of Asian Dub. Peter, who produces, arranges, mixes, plays guitar, bass, melodica, and keyboards, plus programming and various other bits of audio manipulation, is a long time Hong Kong resident, with his musical roots in the Punk and Dub Reggae of the ”70s.

Andio Lai (https://www.andiolai.com/home) is interested in making sound objects and machine art, some are built to be used in his sonic performances. He obtained BA (Hons) in Creative Media, School of Creative Media at City University of Hong Kong & MA in Fine Arts at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Through the practice of media archeology, studying tools development and the relative history of interfaces, his works focus on the subject matter of experimental instrument, playing and human-machine relation. He sometimes teaches subjects related to Media Art and Technologies.