emitter label night @ Kontakte19

Peter Cusack:

Aral Sea Stories: water uses and abuses, jackal magic, ice bells, perpetual motion, Dagira in thunder

Fifty years ago the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Central Asia, was the planet’s fourth largest lake. In the decades since it has virtually disappeared; a victim of disastrous irrigation schemes that divert much of the water from its feeder rivers planned during Soviet times. Today Kazakhstan is making a surprisingly successful attempt to restore the small part of the Aral within it’s territory. Water levels have risen, native fish species have increased, wildlife is returning and, although slow, improvements to the environment are obvious. The fishing industry is employing local people once more, returning work to an impoverished region.

However, the Aral Sea should be seen in isolation. It is the end point of the vast Syr Darya and Amu Darya river watersheds that have their sources in the Tien Sian and Pamir mountains 3000km away on the borders of China and Afganistan. Since 2013 I have made several trips to the Aral and to the Naryn river in Kyrgyzstan to make field recordings, take photographs, talk to people and to try to understand the impact, on people and the environment, of the water uses and abuses along its length.

Tonight’s presentation includes audio recordings, images and stories from the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the fertile Fergana valley and of different seasons beside the Aral itself.

Francisco López

“Widely acclaimed for the intensity, richness and astonishing audio

detail of his live immersive performances in the dark, sound artist and composer Francisco López has been enthralling audiences worldwide for decades with his sonic experiences with multi-channel surround systems and blindfolds provided for the public. Renowned for the complexity and intricacy of the unfolding aural micro-worlds, López works with sound as a ‘medium’ for a transcendental experience open to individual exploration: this is one-of-a-kind experience not to be missed.”