The first episode, “Archival Silences,” has been online since mid-September. It features a conversation with artist and scholar meLê yamomo and theater and performance studies experts Doris Kolesch, Layla Zami, and Emma Lo. In the episode, yamomo explains how he deals with archival silences in his artistic and academic work, and discusses his performance Echoing Europe, his concept of the “sonus,” and his transnational research project “Decolonizing Southeast Asian Sound Archives” (DeCoSEAS). From October 21‒22, 2023, Berlin’s Haus der Kulturen der Welt will celebrate “Listening to the World – 100 Years of Radio,” presenting the results of a transregional radio research project that was co-curated by yamomo.

Other episodes feature Anjeline de Dios, cultural geographer and vocal artist, on the topics of disobedience, well-being, and sonic conceptions of space; Rully Shabara, an experimental vocalist, on issues such as digitization and open-source technology; and Victoria Pham, an Australian artist, evolutionary biologist, and composer, on subjects such as rhythm, listening, and collective digital archives.

The podcast is aimed at anyone who is interested in the interplay between sound, the vocal arts, and sound art, as well as contemporary art practices across the Asian diaspora. All four episodes of the second season will be in English.

The podcast is produced as part of the research project B05 on “Acoustic Disruptions”, and was launched by postdoctoral researcher Layla Zami. Project B05 is led by Professor Doris Kolesch, head of the Institute for Theater Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, who is known for her research on the phenomenologies of voice in relation to performance studies. Doctoral researcher Emma Lo is taking on the role of curator and host for the second season. Her research focuses on the intersections of sound, technology, and diaspora. The podcast brings together the various specializations of the research project, which investigates the concept of “acoustic disruptions.”

The Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1512 “Intervening Arts” began work in January 2022. It gives researchers from Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin University of the Arts, the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), and Leuphana University Lüneburg a framework to explore how artistic perspectives and positions impact societal processes. Its main focus is on the relationship between art, society, and politics. The research center’s spokesperson is Jürgen Brokoff, professor of modern German literature at Freie Universität Berlin.

The CRC also works together with non-university partners. One of its main focuses is on promoting dialogue and exchange with individuals from the art and cultural scene. The podcast Sonic Interventions is one format that addresses this focus.