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Paper short abstract

Interdisciplinary, sound-based work can challenge polarised narratives and build solidarity across divides. Drawing on projects in the Balkans, Ireland, and online, this paper explores listening, testimony, and art as tools for connection in fractured societies.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines how sound-based and interdisciplinary artistic practices generate affective encounters that challenge dominant narratives, complicate identity categories, and build solidarity across political and cultural divides. Rooted in composition but extending into performance, visual art, and community engagement, my practice investigates the ethical and political dimensions of listening, testimony, and collaborative creation.

I outline the foundations of my doctoral research, which proposed cross-artform collaboration as a means of fostering socially engaged, emotionally resonant artworks. This framework shaped my involvement in a research project in Serbia and Bosnia centred on women’s accounts of the Yugoslav Wars. The resulting sound work, Not A Victim, foregrounded the coexistence of multiple and conflicting truths, raising questions about artistic positionality, responsibility, and the complexities of working as an outsider to a conflict.

The paper then turns to Bridge, a participatory youth project in Northern Ireland developed in response to rising polarisation and the online spread of extremist narratives. Combining testimonies, electronic sound, and public graffiti, the work explored how listening and creative action can cultivate dialogue among young people from opposing communities. Alongside this, my contribution to the Europe-wide research group Conditions of Peace further examined how identity, economic shifts, and media influence shape perceptions of peace and belonging in contemporary Ireland.

Drawing on thinkers such as Elif Shafak, I argue that in an era dominated by echo chambers and reductive binaries, sound-based art offers a powerful medium for holding contradiction, fostering empathy, and creating spaces where complex political realities can be collectively explored.