Alaska at Teatro Aveirense
Published at — 17 October 2024
On October 19th, at 4pm, the ‘Houses of the Wind’ installation opens in Aveiro, combining a musical composition by John Luther Adams – winner of prizes such as the Pulitzer and Grammy – with an architectural intervention by Diogo Aguiar Studio. The project, created specifically for Aveiro 2024 – Portuguese Capital of Culture, has Martim Sousa Tavares as its musical curator and can be visited until November 2nd at Teatro Aveirense. Free admission.
The starting point of the installation is a musical work by John Luther Adams – entitled ‘Houses of the Wind’ – composed with field recordings in Alaska (USA), using sounds from an aeolian harp, an instrument placed in nature and driven by the wind. It is a piece that deviates from the composer's canons, as it only involves the manipulation of sounds, without any intervention from musical interpreters. With this work, the composer – who was an environmental activist for several years – pays homage to Alaska, where he lived for 40 years, and proposes a reflection on the current state of the world, in an exercise that has climate change as a fundamental axis.
It was from this musical composition that Diogo Aguiar Studio built its intervention, which was based on the ecological awareness present in the work of John Luther Adams. The studio – recognized for its work between architecture and art – combines a textile construction, which will be suspended in the Studio Room of Teatro Aveirense, with a play of lights, with the intention of providing an immersive experience that transports the public to the immensity of white of Alaskan landscapes. An exercise that also alludes to the white hills of the Aveiro salt flats, similar to Alaska both in their abstract topography and in their shapes, color and suggestion of movement.
The ‘Houses of the Wind’ installation at Teatro Aveirense is based on the relationship between sound and scenic beauty, an invitation to contemplation, observation and listening, enhanced by the slow and progressive evolution of music and light.
This project is musically curated by Martim Sousa Tavares and derives from Aveiro's candidacy for European Capital of Culture in 2027, fulfilling the objective of integrating some of its proposals into the programming of Aveiro 2024 – Portuguese Capital of Culture.
The starting point of the installation is a musical work by John Luther Adams – entitled ‘Houses of the Wind’ – composed with field recordings in Alaska (USA), using sounds from an aeolian harp, an instrument placed in nature and driven by the wind. It is a piece that deviates from the composer's canons, as it only involves the manipulation of sounds, without any intervention from musical interpreters. With this work, the composer – who was an environmental activist for several years – pays homage to Alaska, where he lived for 40 years, and proposes a reflection on the current state of the world, in an exercise that has climate change as a fundamental axis.
It was from this musical composition that Diogo Aguiar Studio built its intervention, which was based on the ecological awareness present in the work of John Luther Adams. The studio – recognized for its work between architecture and art – combines a textile construction, which will be suspended in the Studio Room of Teatro Aveirense, with a play of lights, with the intention of providing an immersive experience that transports the public to the immensity of white of Alaskan landscapes. An exercise that also alludes to the white hills of the Aveiro salt flats, similar to Alaska both in their abstract topography and in their shapes, color and suggestion of movement.
The ‘Houses of the Wind’ installation at Teatro Aveirense is based on the relationship between sound and scenic beauty, an invitation to contemplation, observation and listening, enhanced by the slow and progressive evolution of music and light.
This project is musically curated by Martim Sousa Tavares and derives from Aveiro's candidacy for European Capital of Culture in 2027, fulfilling the objective of integrating some of its proposals into the programming of Aveiro 2024 – Portuguese Capital of Culture.
