Sound and Anthropology was a conference which involved collaboration and dialogue between sound artists and anthropologists, most specifically on the subject of body, environment and human sound-making. The conference ran from 19-21 June 2006 at St Andrews University also included sound walks led by Nils Faarlund and Adge Jensen and a concert on the first night held at a local restaurant.
Keynote speakers were Steven Feld, whose paper was titled ‘From Birds to Bells', and David Toop who discussed the common interests between the two disciplines. Topics covered included the London soundscape, the acoustic ecology of the human heart, poetics and magic words of northeast Scottish fishermen, humming, sound and migration in Bangalore, archival sound and oral history, early human sound making, silence, and ethics. Alongside the conference was a sound library of speakers’ work (see links).
The conference included contributions from a broad range of speakers from all over the world:
Professor Wendy James, University of Oxford, Dr Judith Aston, University of the West of England, Peter Cusack, London, College of Communications, Viv Corringham, Dr Andrew Whitehouse, University of Aberdeen, Professor Colwyn Trevarthen, University of Edinburgh, Tom Rice, Goldsmiths College, Sally Walmsley, Queens University, Belfast, Dr Nathan Porath, Aberdeen University, Dr Rupert Cox, Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology, George McQuitty, University of St Andrews, Louise K Wilson, University of Derby, Dr Mikhail Karikis, Middlesex University, Jim Lutz, University of Memphis, Fiona-Jane Brown, Elphinstone Institute, Aberdeen, Patrick Sutherland, LCC, James Wyness, University of Aberdeen, Dr Henry Stobart, Royal Holloway, Nalle, musicians, artists and art therapists from University of Glasgow, Dr Barbara Truffin, Universite Libre de Bruxelles and Felix Luque, Pompa Fabra University, Ray Lucas, University of Edinburgh, Moushumi Bhowmik, India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore, Sara Davidmann, Wimbledon School of Art, David Chapman, University of East London.
Before the conference, a series of talks were held at St Andrews and LCC which aimed to give postgraduate students the opportunity to learn skills from the different fields - Sound Arts and Anthropology. In the days preceding the conference, some of these students attended a retreat as part of the project which allowed them to put some of these skills into practice. Some of the students who attended the residential spoke at the conference about their experiences during this time.
The conference was the result of a collaborative project between St Andrews University and the London College of Communication and was supported by the AHRC and the British Academy, as well as by the two institutions concerned.
CREATIVE RESEARCH INTO SOUND ARTS PRACTICE
