Award-winning work “Sound Desert” launched on the website

The work “Sound Desert” was launched on the web, after obtaining the “Prix Paysage Sonore” at the 28th Phonurgia Nova Awards in France.

The creation had its world premiere in the prestigious Phonurgia Nova Awards radio creation competition, held in Paris (France) during the first days of November 2023.

Being the only representative of Latin America, the project recorded in Arica was exhibited along with 49 sound works from different parts of the world, winning the “Prix Paysage Sonore” in the Field Recording category; an unprecedented recognition for Chilean sound art.

Content

“Desierto Sonoro” is composed of five audio tracks that add up to a total of 58 minutes. The initiative created by the production company Candelabro Films was financed by MINCAP through the National Fondart.

The work team for this production was made up of Diego Véliz (Direction, script and editing); Jorge Acevedo (Sound, editing and post-production); Pamela Quintanilla (General Production); Anna Hurtado (Curatorial texts); Raquel Castro (English translation); Jordi Casanueva and Pablo Serrano (Web and Graphic Design).

The creation of this work was carried out in two years of work, and during that period, sounds were recorded in iconic places in Arica; such as the Lluta Wetland, the Anzota Caves, the Ex-Isla del Alacrán, the Asoagro Terminal, the Maestranza Chinchorro of the Arica – La Paz Railway, the International Bus Terminal, among others. In that context, it is Diego Véliz’s first sound foray; historian and master in creative documentary, who to date had worked mainly in the audiovisual field, making various short films between Chile and Spain.

Regarding the origins of the project, its director Diego Véliz points out that initially the intention was to create a kind of sound cartography of Arica, although as the writing of the project progressed, it evolved into a more artistic and authorial search, which in turn , opened up to the possibility of experimenting with the variety of sound elements that this border city offers.

Sounds of Arica for the world

Since its premiere in France, “Desierto Sonoro” has begun a tour of festivals and radio stations in different countries. Firstly, it premiered in Chile within the framework of the 17th Tsonami Sound Art Festival; only event of this type held in the country. It was followed by his participation in the 20th Longueur d’ondes. Festival de la Radio et de l’Écoute; a prestigious French competition where he was once again the only Chilean representative. Likewise, the project was exhibited at the 11th Monteaudio International Sound Art Festival (Uruguay) and at the 23rd International Image Festival (Colombia).

At the same time, the work was nominated for the New York Festivals Radio Awards, and has been broadcast on space programs on Radio Télévision Suisse RTS (Switzerland) and Bauhaus.fm of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (Germany). Likewise, “Desierto Sonoro” will soon be presented along with a long-length interview conducted by the French sound artist Loïc Guerineau, who traveled to Arica to talk with its author. This program will be shown on the prestigious Radio Grenouille (Marseille); one of the pioneering mediums of sound art since 1981.

On this point, Diego Véliz indicates that: “We are surprised with the acceptance that “Desierto Sonoro” is having, since we premiered only a couple of months ago, and in this short period, the work has participated in different sound art events. In that sense, we are especially happy with the reception we are receiving in Europe, since these are countries with a strong tradition in this type of art, and therefore, the level of technical and artistic demand is higher.”

Web launch

“Desierto Sonoro” also included the creation of a series of associated products that would amplify the listening experience. One of them is the creation of a website (designed by Estudio Ruiz), which was conceived as a minimalist virtual installation where a tour could be taken to listen to the 5 sound pieces of the project. In addition, the site contains original texts by the Catalan writer Anna Hurtado, who used poetic language to review each piece and deliver her vision in a central curatorial text. In that sense, the use of literature also operates as a gesture that seeks to expand the sensory quality of this work of sound art.

Regarding this last topic, the author points out that “the idea of ​​generating a platform that would allow us to present our project in a better way seemed very attractive to us. In that context, it is not a traditional website overloaded with images, since precisely what was sought was for sound to be the protagonist.”

“To this effort we also wanted to add the creation of a set of curatorial texts, which in some way offer a more panoramic view of the work, although without falling into exhibition content that explains it,” Véliz concludes.

For those who want to know and listen to this project in detail, you can visit www.desiertosonoro.com.