I was invited to take part in a two-day workshop exploring the sound archive and aesthetic legacy of Spanish artist, José Val del Omar (Granada, 1904 - Madrid, 1982) led by a team of musicologists and sound studies specialists which include the cultural producer for Spanish National Radio, Dr Miguel Álvarez-Fernández. The team of researchers have been working closely with the archive of Val del Omar held at the Reina Sofia Museum for Contemporary Art in Madrid. As a multidisciplinary artist, known predominantly for his experimental film work and technological explorations, the legacy of his sonorous experimentations is still yet to be made public. Recordings found to date indicate that the artist was working with evocative texts, samples and audio recordings to make what have now come to be known as ‘soundscapes’, decades before the terminology existed.
My involvement with the project was funded by the University of Edinburgh. A blog post with further details of the event and a seminar will be organised in 2020 as part of ‘The Sonic Study Series’.