THE SINGING OF THE SPRINGS
18º annual cycle of artist residencies in sound and media arts
Carvalhal de Vermilhas and Vouzela (Vouzela municipality)
From 17 to 29 June 2024

Organised by Binaural Nodar with the support of the Municipality of Vouzela, the Civil Parish Union of Cambra and Carvalhal de Vermilhas and the Recreational and Cultural Association of Carvalhal de Vermilhas.

As part of the first artist residency of its 18th annual programme of artist residencies in sound and media arts, Binaural Nodar will host, between June 17th and 29th, three artistic projects that reflect about and express themes related to the interaction between water and culture in rural contexts.

Christina Tsantekidou (Greece/Germany)

The project “Waterscapes of Belonging” focuses on the profound symbolism of water as a fundamental element connecting human life, birth, and migration. Water, with its universal presence in our bodies and cultural narratives, serves as the central theme of this project. By exploring the metaphorical and literal significance of water in our existence, this artistic endeavor aims to uncover shared human experiences that transcend cultural divides. The project combines storytelling with photography and multichannel sound, with the aim of making people reflect on how water, migration, and the desire to belong are all connected.

Christina Tsantekidou was born in 1987 in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), Russia, and grew up in Thessaloniki, Greece. Living and working in Berlin and Greece.
Her practice explores how we relate to and internalise the geo-political shifts that occur within our lifetimes and those we carry with us from past generations.
The socially and politically charged subjects employ a wide range of mediums to address global issues surrounding immigration and cultural identity.
Christina Tsantekidou uses biographical stories as a vehicle for navigating through political history and collective memory, exploring the nature of our existence, where reflections on circumstances of the past bring an awareness of the present.
Her works have been shown in exhibitions in contexts such as Common Ground (Berlin, Germany, 2019), Thresholds of Life (Paphos, Cyrpus, 2019), and Perpetual Lines (Lahti, Finland, 2018).

Daniel Lercher (Austria)

Daniel Lercher’s project is to produce an on-site sound installation.
His idea is to build a small wooden water wheel in a creek that generates little amounts of electric energy, just enough to supply a small DIY audio-circuit (resembling cricket chirps) with power. Water wheels have been an integral part of rural cultures for centuries and constituted the earliest mechanical device that was propelled by means other than man or animal. The installation will be combined with a performance where the artist will be interacting with the sounds from the installation.

Daniel Lercher was born 1983 in the Austrian countryside, currently residing and working as a sound artist, composer and musician in Vienna. He is a graduate of the course for computer music and electronic media at the Vienna Institute for composition and electroacoustics. Lercher’s work focuses on electroacoustic composition/improvisation, live-electronic, phonography, installations, music for dance & film, etc. His list of activities includes more than 300 concerts, installations and residencies on four continents. His works have been presented at festivals like ORF-Musikprotokoll (AT), Wien Modern (AT), BCSC (AUS), Signal&Noise (CAN), Neposlušno (SVN), Insomnia (NOR), ICAS (DE), La Petit Mort (CZ), etc.

Mila Panić (Bosnia-Herzegovina/Germany)

Mila Panić proposes a performance/sound installation that explores fermentation as a remedy for social issues, inviting participants to partake in a ritual that is common in Bosnia, soaking the feet in salted water, a practice known in other countries, such as Portugal. this is a context that can be spent in silence when alone, but in this case can be a place for the exchange of thoughts using water as vehicle. Designed as a communal break, this event would offer participants a chance to cool their feet in a simple mixture of water and salts, experiencing a moment of rest, reflection, and the art of leisurely enjoyment, as practiced by the working people.

Mila Panić is a Bosnian-Herzegovian artist, researcher and aspiring comedian, currently living and mingling in Berlin. Mila’s practice questions existing narratives of diaspora and issues related to the phenomenology of place, such as the expanded notion of belonging, guilt and responsibility. In her projects that range from personalized documentation to highly poetic visual and discursive elements, she addresses the constant aspiration for a better life and counterbalances personal expectations with intimacy as a tool for resistance. Panić’s works were exhibited at Kunsthaus Dresden, the Moscow Biennale for Young Art, Künstlerhaus Wien, National Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje, North Macedonia, and Mediterranea 19 Young Artists Biennale in San Marino, Italy, among others. Panić received Research Grant for Visual Arts 2021 from Senate Department for Culture and Europe and has participated in many residencies, festivals and talks including Künstlerhaus Lukas in Ahrenshoop, Germany, Kultur Kontakt Residency in Vienna, Austria, ADATA AiR in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Binaural Nodar is a cultural organization supported by the Portuguese Republic – Culture | Directorate-General for the Arts.