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ZKM (Karlsruhe)

Pratyay Raha - ZKM Karlsruhe - Goethe Institute Bangalore




As a part of bangaloREsidency-Expanded supported by Goethe Institute Bangalore from 30th May to 27th June 2023 at ZKM, Pratyay Raha worked on his pieces and presented a concert on 23rd June 2023


At ZKM, Pratyay worked on the Zirkonium spatialisation software developed in-house at ZKM


Piece 1: MetaMangrovis


During his residency at the Centre for Art and Media (ZKM), Karlsruhe, Pratyay has worked on MetaMangrovis which is a sculptural and spatial investigation to explore and experiment with the ideas of environmental sound, human voice, degrading landscapes and human-environment relationships. The research is based on the “Sundarbans” region (largest mangrove delta of the world located in Eastern India and Bangladesh) which according to the World Wildlife Fund (India) is “lying in the low coastal zone and is more vulnerable to the effects of the changing climatic conditions such as floods, cyclones, relative sea-level rise, and coastline erosion".

It is a poetic and surreal representation of the mysterious Sundarbans and the mangrove delta region as a reservoir of entangling soundscapes. The project navigates deep into the study of human animal interactions in the region through acoustic memory and sonic story telling. Through the application of advanced spatial sound technology, MetaMangrovis aims to present a multi-layered image of the critically endangered Sundarbans.


Credits:

Abanti Sinha

Indranil Sukla

Susanta Adhikary

Rahul Nag

Yashas Shetty


Piece 2: The Externality of Inside


This piece was originally developed by Lenka Půžová and Pratyay Raha for the final live performance for the MA Contemporary Dance, Irish World Academy (University of Limerick) in August 2022. The performance was a result of a three months long "stream of consciousness generated movement improvisation", reflecting the process of encountering pregnancy for the first time.


Led by the physical and mental changes that pregnancy carries, dealing with a "new" body as a dancer. The sounds were also made imagining the listening of the baby in the amniotic fluid. For the concert at ZKM, Pratyay has recreated the piece with the inclusion of new sounds and spatialisation using the ZKM software Zirconium. The final concept is based on perceiving the body as an environment to live in, being a whole world for someone else´s existence.


Dance, movement, video: Lenka Půžová

Voice: Lenka Půžová & Vladimir Schmid

Sound design, mixing

and spatialisation for ZKM Klangdom: Pratyay Raha


Piece 3 : Nowhere to Hide


‘Nowhere to Hide’ is an exploration of the shadow, a journey through the darkness that we all fear. Carl Jung has massive work in this field, and we try to perceive through our art his core philosophy which says, “The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.”


In terms of musicality, this piece is about searching for a space and time beyond the traditional notions of rhythm and frequency. It also delves deep into exploring the primal connections of the body with the voice and how it can used as a responsive tool with respect to acoustic or electronic sounds. During his residency at ZKM Karlsruhe, Pratyay has used the ZKM spatialisation software along with DAW Reaper to create haunting movements and spaces relating to the ever-evolving concept of the ‘shadow’. He will include two additional compositional layers with video project and live performance to enhance and expand his exploration into the unknown.

Violin: Saptarshi Mondal

Drums: Puranjoy Bhattacharjee

Voice: Pratyay Raha

Sounds used in the piece were recorded at two live performances in Kolkata (India) by Neloy Panchal & Susanta Adhikary


I would like to thank the brilliant and wonderful people from ZKM Karlsruhe, Dominik Kautz, Goetz Dipper, Dan Wilcox, Benjamin Miller, Hans Gass, Peter Mueller and Andy Koch who have helped and supported me throughout my residency period.


Last but not the least thanks to everyone at Goethe Institute Bangalore for supporting my residency at ZKM


https://www.goethe.de/ins/in/en/sta/ban/ueb/rex/exr/rah.html




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