International Encounter of Field Recording will preserve estuary in Puerto Vallarta

The International Encounter of Field Recording will bring together seven sound and academic artists who will be preserving the sounds of El Salado.

The recording of sounds is a tool for the conservation of heritage, says Yair López, the sound artist who heads the International Encounter of Field Recording (EIGC in Spanish), which will be held from June 9 to 22, with the goal of creating a sound memory of the Estero El Salado, in Puerto Vallarta.

The project, which has the support of the Ministry of Culture of Jalisco through the Headquarters of Music and Sound Art and the Vallarta Institute of Culture of the City of Puerto Vallarta, will bring together sound artists, academics and students of the Costa Sur University Center from the University of Guadalajara, who will work to generate a project that involves science, art and technology.

The seven participating artists are divided into two groups that will have a week of residency to make their recordings in El Salado. The project also involves the biologist Abraham Reyes and 20 students from the University of Guadalajara, who together with the artists will work in the estuary to capture the natural sounds of the flora and fauna.

It is through an exercise of contemplation, description of sounds, installation of recording equipment and walks with a microphone in hand, among other actions that will create the complete sound profile of the estuary. Biologists will study the ecosystem and have feedback to enrich the recording work.

The artists participating are Tito Rivas, director of X-Teresa Arte Actual in Mexico City; Tania Rubio, composer specialized in field recording; Gerardo Martínez, musician and artist whose practice is based on virtual reality systems; Andrés Aguilar, architect, musician and sound engineer. Florencia Guillén, visual artist; Raymundo Macedo, Puerto Vallara musician and Yair López, who heads the EIGC and performs as a sound artist with particular interests in the field and landscape.

The results of the EIGC will be presented in October in Puerto Vallarta and later in Guadalajara. In addition, they will be part of an intangible heritage of the head of Music and Sound Art of the SC.

The EIGC was created in 2012 in Guadalajara in collaboration with Sociacusia and Sensory Laboratory. The main objective is to create a space for reflection around acoustic ecology and field recording.