"The voice is stubbornly, insistently, unabashedly bodily"
– Adriana Cavarero, «For More Than One Voice: Towards a Philosophy of Vocal Expression» (2005)

ECHOES is a two-part exhibition in the form of a Carte Blanche to performance artist Lara Dâmaso (1996, Biel/Bienne, lives in Zurich), in which she continues her research on the agency of the voice and its intimate, emotional, therapeutic and political potential. The environment of KRONE COURONNE serves as a platform for her and the voices of her invited artists (Nikima Jagudajev, Tarren Johnson and Mario Petrucci Espinoza) in an attempt to access new forms of vocal communication, beyond language.

The artist sees voice as an equal medium to body movement and dance – an agent, which generates vibrations and connects the physical and emotional body to the environment in which it moves. To her, the voice's potential - as one of the most essential forms of human expression - is only partially explored, not to say ignored, feared or censored.

As stated in Anne Carson’s text “The Gender of Sound” (1995), feminine voices are connoted as emotional and shrill, while masculine ones reflect self-control, confidence and rationality. Breaking away from the dominant practice of logos, the voice - in its uncontrolled, dissonant and emotionally-complex dimension - invokes a plurality of singular voices that intertwine with one another. As Adriana Cavarero writes in “For More than One Voice: Towards a Philosophy of Vocal Expression” (2005): ‘[...] what is undeniable in the sound of each voice is the embodied, relational uniqueness of each existent’.

ECHOES is an invitation to dialogue and to open up space for voices to meet and respond to one another, to gain in corporeality and existence, and to become singular and political.

Press release (PDF) & Exhibition text by Olamiju Fajemisin

Exhibition generously supported by the foundations Gubler-Hablützel, Anne-Marie Schindler and Georg und Josi Guggenheim.

Photos: 1-14 © Guadalupe Ruiz, 15-25 © James Bantone.