Community – INFRA

I N F R A was made possible with the participation of a diverse community of deaf people, who contributed valuable perspectives from the context of each city.

Each laboratory opens a space for debate and reflection from the deaf culture, towards the hearing society, creating a bridge to share their experience with sound and vibration.

Cochabamba

First laboratory

Sonandes Sound Art Biennial

The participants were members of the Cochabamba Deaf Association (A.S.O.R.C.O), which opened its doors and collaborated with the research from the very beginning.
The initial group was made up of nine volunteers, interested in movement and body language. A final piece of experimental theater and immersive listening was created, based on the activation and displacement of speakers and membranes in space.

La Paz

Second lab

Center of the Cultural Revolution

Deaf students from the Escuela Superior de Formación de Maestros Simón Bolívar participated in the laboratory, coming from special education, initial education and plastic arts specialties. His concerns connected the laboratory with pedagogy, emphasizing sonic experiences that can be transmitted to deaf students in school. His reflections on deaf identity and culture showed the need to expand Bolivian sign language in formal education and in society. His capacity for teamwork and sensitivity marked the laboratory generating a piece that explores language, music and communication.
Victor Romario Llaves , previously a hearing and clairvoyant, now experiences gradual loss of vision and hearing, this transition allowed him to share a lot of valuable information for both the hearing and the deaf, being a key link in the transmission of knowledge and pointing out experiences with high potential for the laboratory.

Medellín

Third lab

Exploratorio del Parque Explora

El Parque Explora through Exploratorio: public experimentation workshop hosted the research, gathering a heterogeneous group made up of young people of different ages and profiles, interested in generating cultural content for the deaf community.
The group was also attended by listeners closely linked to the community: artists, interpreters and family members. The laboratories were characterized by the proactivity of the members, who gave themselves up to experimentation with real interest. The group was concerned that the devices, as well as the sessions, were adapted to provide a better experience for Kevin Tobar (19), a deaf-blind from birth, who participated together with his parents, with whom he has a very special body symbiosis. From them we receive a critical contribution that is complemented by the lessons learned from Víctor Romario LLaves in Bolivia.
Thinking about the experience for people with different abilities was a characteristic of the group, which at all times tried to take advantage of each device without limiting it to other corporalities. They emphasized accessible spaces for blind people, as well as for people in wheelchairs, this care showed us a more sensitive and cooperative community.
With the support of Colombian Radio Television (RTVC), the final exhibition brought together more than four hundred visitors who enjoyed the experience and with whom we shared a nutritious conversation that encouraged us to continue the research.

Buenos Aires

Fourth Lab

Casa Belgrado

Children, young people and the elderly accompanied the development of the laboratory. This group had a prominent use of vocalization and speech, so the common denominator was exploring the voice, music and acoustic massage. People with autism and profound Down syndrome participated, who responded positively with the stimuli and devices made available to them. The tutors and companions valued the contribution, that it entails for the communication of this type of people with their environment. The research focus towards greater attention to neurodiversity was characterized in this collective learning process. The contributions of participants and family members were of great benefit to the process and the research.

Montevideo

Fifth lab

Forma y Sonido Univ. Workshop and Monteaudio Festival

The Experimental Workshop of Form and Sound (Forma y Sonido), dependent on the University School of Music of the Republic of Uruguay EUM ,
received the research and allowed us to develop a differentiated work. On the one hand a specific approach was made for the Aguante Beethoven musical group, made up of deaf people, with whom devices were developed to link music with visual feedback and light, allowing its audience to visualize their performance from a different perspective.
The second group was made up of twenty two students from the University School of Music and National School of Fine Arts , with whom a new set of devices were designed and built. The processes with each group were very different, in the one side because the listener audience entered into the deaf culture with great empathy, while the band Aguante Beethoven, managed to generate an internal strategy, that allowed them to achieve greater coordination in their execution and achieving a more attractive and interactive performance on their performance.
INFRA was part of the Monteaudio Festival as a guest artist in residence, to develop a cooperative work with these two working groups. The investigation closed the festival activities with an exhibition and final performance open to the public.