Within the framework of the international project “A Sea Change”, KONTEJNER is organizing a field recording workshop focused on coastal environment and underwater areas. The workshop is led by a Croatian multimedia artist Toni Meštrović and curator and musicologist Davorka Begović. The workshop is for participants interested in sound recording in general, field recording, underwater recording with hydrophones, recording with contact microphones, listening to soundscapes and sound art practices in general - regardless of the previous experience and knowledge, from young and emerging artists to editors, musicians, filmmakers, students and everyone else.

Participation is free of charge, and the workshop includes an introductory lecture on the topic of field recording, introduction to the recording equipment, outdoor field recording sessions on several locations in Split and a boat trip to the Čiovo island dedicated to hydrophones and underwater field recording. The focus of the workshop is on recording of and listening to soundscapes without the obligation of audio editing of the recordings.

Meštrović will present different types of microphones and recording devices, as well as methods and recording techniques. He will also present his own artistic work based precisely on field recording. In addition to outdoor field sessions, this workshop includes also collective listening sessions introducing the participants to re-thinking and conceptualization of artistic work within the field recording area.

The number of participants is limited to 5. Applications are sent to our e-mail kontejner@kontejner.org by 25th April 23:59 the latest. Applications have to include a short CV including previous experience in working with sound (if any), a few sentences describing the motivation to participate needs to be sent, and information on the possibility to bring your own headphones to the workshop. Previous experience and knowledge is not needed for participation. Applicants need to speak Croatian and/or English language. All participants will be informed on the selection by April 27th.

Workshop leaders:

Toni Meštrović (Split, 1973) in 1999 graduated in Graphic Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, where he produced graphic arts, sculpture and installations. Thanks to his interest in electronic audiovisual media, he attended the Video/Digital Imaging International Summer Academy for Contemporary Art in Salzburg in 1997. In 2004, he completed a two-year postgraduate degree in Media Art at the Academy of Media Arts, Cologne. Since 1992, he has actively participated in group and solo shows, as well as video festivals in Croatia and abroad. Sound entered his artistic production spontaneously, as a secondary segment of video and film. With time he recognized it as his medium of expression, splitting it from the visual and devoting himself entirely to sound. In almost two decades of working with sound, Meštrović’s approach to the medium has grown more complex, creating spatial sound installations and compositions. He divides his time between Rijeka and Kaštela and teaches at the Department of Film and Video of the Arts Academy in Split.

Davorka Begović (Zagreb, 1984) is a freelance musicologist and sound curator from Zagreb, Croatia, working in the field of contemporary experimental music and related art forms. For the last 18 years, she has been working in the field of culture and art as a selector and a producer, primarily of music projects, but also theatre, contemporary dance, multimedia and film projects. As a member of KONTEJNER she runs the international project Re-Imagine Europe, an experimental sound event Gibanja and other sound related projects. As an associate she lectures „Sound as the Visual Art Expression“ at the Animated Film and New Media Department at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. She runs experimental sound listening sessions and workshops, publishes critics and articles, writes texts for discography and other releases.