IGNAZ SCHICK – ISTANBUL DIARIES

On May 3 and 4, Kulturakademie Tarabya alumnus Ignaz Schick will present his durational concert installation Istanbul Diaries at the Orient Institut Istanbul.

Istanbul Diaries is based on Ignaz Schick’s research he conducted during his 2018-2023 residencies at Kulturakadmie Tarabya, a research about how the
megalopolis sounds.

The approximately 4-hour concert installation combines sound and video installations, graphic/video scores, field recordings, ensemble conducting and small group improvisations with 7 important experimental/contemporary musicians and protagonists of Istanbul’s vibrant music scene. The result is a unique sonic mapping and portrait of this special city in a marathon-like setting.

In various sections, the musicians perform solo, in small groups or in large group orchestral situations. At times, the musicians play or interact with the projections, which function as graphic or video scores with prepared instructions for the players. The musical material presented can be acoustic, electro-acoustic or electronic, and visual material (photos, videos) can be transformed and become the source material from which graphic scores and instructions are derived. The composition draws from the broad spectrum and community of Istanbul’s experimental scene with musicians from styles such as improvisation, contemporary music, noise, sound art, electroacoustic or traditional Turkish music and collages, samples, layers and recomposes this potential with the city’s never dormant original and archetypal soundscape. Much of the (audiovisual) footage used was collected by the composer himself or comes from various archives, junk stores and fellow artists who kindly provide some of their unique recordings.

Supported by the Alumni Fund of the Tarabya Academy of Culture, Istanbul Diaries is realized by Ignaz Schick together with Sevket Akinçi, Ali Onur Olgun, Anil Eraslan, Ulrich Mertin, Merve Salgar, Amy Salsgiver and Fulya Uçanok.

Ignaz Schick was a sound art and composition scholarship holder at the Tarabya Cultural Academy in Istanbul from September 2018 to early January 2019 to work on his sound mapping project Istanbul Diaries. During his research, Schick investigated the many layers of sound in the megalopolis of Istanbul. In addition to collecting numerous urban soundscapes and field recordings on endless walks and excursions, Schick also attempted to gain an overview of Istanbul’s diverse experimental sound and music scene. During his four-month stay, Schick collected more than 80 hours of recordings from Istanbul. Countless field recordings of well-known sound icons, but also recordings of the ever-expanding city with its obscure no-man’s-lands and in-between spaces (highway bridges and underpasses, airport access roads, gigantic construction sites, etc.), as well as interviews and sessions with various musicians from the local experimental music scene. Originally planned as a meticulous Istanbul sound map (which seems like an impossible mission), it was used more and more as an ever-growing archive in the process.
In 2019, he used the raw material from this archive to compose a four-part sound walk, which was presented at four different outdoor locations in the old park of the Cultural Academy during the Tarabya Summer Festival. The loudspeakers were hidden in old buildings, bushes or behind trees and hedges, so that passers-by were unexpectedly surprised by the electroacoustic recomposition of the original material from Istanbul. The project was a great success and as a result the idea of the concert installation/promenade concert was born.

This event is a co-production of Zangi Music/ Zarek Berlin and a joint event between the Goethe-Institut Istanbul, the Kulturakademie Tarabya and the Orient-Institut Istanbul.

Participation is free of charge. To participate, please register at the link above.