Sound Lifeline: War Soundscape of the besiged Sarajevo

Sound Lifeline project aims to explore the relationship between sound, space/architecture, and memory is perhaps less inclined to enhance the urban auditory environment or promote acoustic design as an alternative approach to urban planning, our primary focus lies in uncovering of profound insights about the city through exploration of sonic memory within a particular historical context and its consequences on the city today. The research has been focusing on the sonic memories of war during the siege of Sarajevo (1991-1995) as witnessed by fifteen survivors. Through a research to create approach, the project seeks to understand how present collective sonic experience is shaped through individual sonic memory of war and furthermore it seeks to understand what role sound might play not only in the urban and architectural context but also as a means of addressing sonic trauma.

Central to this research are two interrelated aspects of listening: firstly, it aims to comprehend the intricacies of distinct acts of listening during wartime. Secondly, it employs witnesses as its primary methodology, later interpreting, recreating, and addressing this listening through three specific artistic modalities incorporated into an exhibition that was held at the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo in April, 2023 followed by an exhibition at the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Arts and Science as part of the Global SpecifCity Festival in Ljubljana organized by Radio Television Slovenia in June, 2023.

You can find the publication, which is a summary of the scientific research which has a ‘research to create’ approach where the scientific research supports the artistic creation and vice versa on the tab to the right, as well as links to the three artistic components which resulted from this research: a documentary film, an electro-acoustic composition and a music composition.

Photo by Amina Alic