Aks Sado
Series of audio dairies made in the emergency artist residence Aks Sado, created by involuntary migrants for other involuntary migrants in Tashkent. It is a targeted program for those who find themselves in a vulnerable situation and are unable to continue their work at their previous locations. The presence of residents in Tashkent is perceived by the participants as problematic, due to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine and in the context of the colonial legacy of the USSR and Russian empire on the territory of modern Uzbekistan.
Rather than trying to represent the stories of others, the residents address their own experiences as their primary focus. ‘Aks sado’ literally translates from Uzbek as ‘reverse sound’ or simply ‘echo,’ which creates a broad framework for interpreting the artistic practices of the participants. The starting point for the unfolding of this metaphor here is a reflexive approach to the creation of material. ‘Aks’ means ‘reverse,’ ‘reflected,’ while ‘sado’ means ‘sound’ and ‘voice.’ Accordingly, the ‘reflected voices’ here can sound like responses to events triggered by the war — the way they resonate in the residents' vision.
An example of this inner reflection was the collective audio diaries of participants conceived in the first month of Aks Sado's existence. These diaries comprise field and prepared recordings, fragments of interviews, casual conversations, and improvisational sessions converge here. Residents rotate as “editors” of the output, but the material is produced jointly during trips, walks, visits to museums, markets, scientific institutions and public events in and outside Tashkent.
Residents shared field and musical material, gathering common texture, but leaving individual selection, composition, and approach. The audio diaries are documents of process rather than outcome — ongoing attempts to translate into sound the experience of discovering oneself in another's context and reacquiring voices.
Rather than trying to represent the stories of others, the residents address their own experiences as their primary focus. ‘Aks sado’ literally translates from Uzbek as ‘reverse sound’ or simply ‘echo,’ which creates a broad framework for interpreting the artistic practices of the participants. The starting point for the unfolding of this metaphor here is a reflexive approach to the creation of material. ‘Aks’ means ‘reverse,’ ‘reflected,’ while ‘sado’ means ‘sound’ and ‘voice.’ Accordingly, the ‘reflected voices’ here can sound like responses to events triggered by the war — the way they resonate in the residents' vision.
An example of this inner reflection was the collective audio diaries of participants conceived in the first month of Aks Sado's existence. These diaries comprise field and prepared recordings, fragments of interviews, casual conversations, and improvisational sessions converge here. Residents rotate as “editors” of the output, but the material is produced jointly during trips, walks, visits to museums, markets, scientific institutions and public events in and outside Tashkent.
Residents shared field and musical material, gathering common texture, but leaving individual selection, composition, and approach. The audio diaries are documents of process rather than outcome — ongoing attempts to translate into sound the experience of discovering oneself in another's context and reacquiring voices.
Angelina Burliuk, Pjotr Zherebtsov, Ilya Golitsyn
