E53 - The Sounds of Camas (Outdoor Centre on Mull)

UNESCO RIELA: The sounds of integration

This week's episode is a soundscape created by UNESCO RILA Affiliated Artist Erdem Avşar from recordings he made in the bay of Camas Tuath on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. The UNESCO RILA team and GRAMNet travel to Camas every year on a researcher development trip and this soundscape has captured the space and some of the activities that happened during those trip in 2022 and 2023. In Erdem's words: "Camas is not a place that you go to. But one that you carry with and within you. In a world (the ‘academic’ world, the ‘artistic’ world, the ‘research’ world) where doing is tethered to speed, urgency, and deadlines, Camas in its generosity and magic gently suggests something else.  It is a landscape of work, solidarity, and presence that resists consumerism and that dizzying pace of living. It is a place of collective imagination, repair, restoration, and inspiration. Since my first time in Camas, I have been trying to come up with a different way of carrying Camas with me - and also of gifting its magic to others. I have found it in its sounds. I have been very lucky to listen to Ralph sighing deeply, Nerea’s seal songs of longing and reunion, the wind blowing, Alison’s dramaturgy of dishes, the footsteps, Tawona’s wonderfully poetic mbira, the contagious laughter filling the room thanks to Esa and Tawona, the bell ringing, dry robe swooshing, all the gorgeous mischief, magic, and music generously shared by the Camas team, and the fire crackling, and crackling, and crackling. For those who have been in Camas and soaked up its magic, all of this will be familiar. And that is the beauty of it: a familiar generosity that welcomes you and one that you pass on to others. Here is a mix of ‘Sounds of Camas’ – sounds I recorded in 2022 and 2023. It is not a fancy soundscape. It is simple, imperfect, and windy. But it helps me (and hopefully it will help others as well) to remember, to dream, and to imagine otherwise. Thanks to the Firepitters, the wonderful Camas team, and all the friends from the UNESCO RILA and GRAMNet who have contributed to the collection. " Please visit https://bit.ly/thesoundsofintegration to download our special listening sheet.