How do group singing, cries, Sami joik and echoes move us? What kinds of cultural meanings and emotions do they contain and pass on? This year’s International Music, Sound and Well-being Symposium will be held from 9th to 10th September remotely, and like its predecessor, this symposium focuses on the power, effects and roles of song and the human voice, both in hobbies and in nursing and therapy work. The theme of the 2021 symposium emphasizes an approach that has been one of the areas of special expertise in cultural research at the University of Eastern Finland for 15 years: man’s relationship to the wider sound environment.
– The basic idea of the symposium is to bring together researchers, artists and actors in the field of social and cultural welfare in the same arena to consider practices, cooperation needs and the role of research in the field, says senior lecturer of ethnomusicology Noora Vikman.
According to her, the planning work of the symposium has already highlighted certain blind spots that need to be brought to the attention of decision makers and all those who are interested in working in the field.
Good practices from international arenas
On the Thursday, the Cultural Welfare Panel will hear excerpts from the actual production and implementation of welfare services within the framework of the concept of well-being understood in many ways. Representatives of projects in North Karelia and South Savo, as well as expert hearings on good practices taken from international arenas, will be heard discussing together and answering questions.
In Thursday’s keynote presentation, artist-researcher Budhadithya Chattopadhyay sheds light on the possibilities for ambiguity in the environment. The Friday afternoon panel discussion draws on a variety of ways of using immersion, both conceptual and practical. Sound designers, composers and educators working in the field shed light on the question of the possibilities of well-being from the point of view of the listener. Through constructive examples, we hear what role technological development could play in producing fashionable immersion and beyond. How do responsibilities and efforts to anticipate and prevent social nausea develop, and how can this be taken into account in the design of a shared sound environment?
In a keynote presentation on Thursday afternoon, Portuguese researcher Fernando Coimbra will present the results of his archeoacustics research and raise questions about man’s bodily relationship with his natural and cultural heritage. He has invited experts from industry from around the world to discuss current issues in the field.
In addition, in two symposium workshops, participants will be introduced to their own breathing and vagus nerve function under the guidance of breathing philosopher Petri Berndtson and Movingness therapist Peter Appel.
The symposium has received financial support from Joensuu University Foundation.
Please see programme here and register preferably during September 8th in order to get a participation link. Registration will be open also till the end the symposium.
