Paper short abstract:

Does singing have anything to do with our relationship with our environment ? Can we get to know our landscapes by singing ? Can we make a new connection to ourselves and our surroundings through singing ? How is the song of your favorite place ? How is the sound of our Future on our common planet ?

Paper long abstract:

We live in a time of great change and challenges. The climate is changing, our places change and we debate, if our way of living in the world is also demanding a change.

Is it possible in modern societies to consider singing as a way of knowing and relating to our places and our common world ? We all have a voice. In many creation myths from all over the world - life begins with sound. We sing the world alive and the world sings back to us.

As kids we explore the world with our sounds. We explore our own resonance and the resonance of the world. Can we - like whales in the ocean - orientate by sound, find each other and exchange songs ?

In many ancient song traditions people sing the surroundings as a way to know them and orientate. The songs appear from the landscapes - and through the singing people and places become one. Can modern people rediscover and reconnect to their places and surroundings by singing ?

Can we enter a way of singing where each voice improvises and freely explores the sounds and resonances in the relation between the singer and the place we choose to sing about ? The Nordic project Singing Our Place travelled in Tuva, Nepal, Mexico, Scandinavia, Iceland and Greenland. The project invites people to express their experience of their places and surroundings trough singing. Let me tell you about that and I will sing for you and with you