Symposium: Improvisation as a Space for Experience

Erfahrungsraum Improvisation (“Improvisation as a Space for Experience”)
7th Symposium at the exploratorium berlin

With Simon Rose (keynote), Guro Gravem Johansen (Norwegian Academy of Music), Raymond MacDonald + Graeme Wilson (University of Edinburgh), Laura Navarro (University of Granada) & Eeva Siljamäki (University of the Arts Helsinki) as well as with projects and workshop facilitators of the exploratorium berlin

***DOWNLOAD SYMPOSIUM PROGRAMME, last updated January 25th, 2022 ***

From 28th to 30th January 2022, the exploratorium berlin organizes the symposium Erfahrungsraum Improvisation (“Improvisation as a Space for Experience”). The title of the symposium refers to the activity of improvisation as a space for personal experiences as well as to the exploratorium berlin itself as a space for improvisation.

The reason for this topic is the upcoming move of the exploratorium berlin to new rooms after 18 years, which suggests both a look back and into the future. The central questions are what it means to improvise, what meanings the activity of improvisation has for individuals or groups and which life-relevant experiences can be linked to it.

The overall goal of the exploratorium is to open a space for the experience of improvising. This happens on several levels, for which the different areas of the exploratorium stand: the stage area (Bühne) as an experience space for experiencing professional improvisation, the learn area (Lernraum with its workshops and courses) and the play area (Spielraum with its open stages) as experience spaces for adults of all levels, the think area (Denkraum) as an experience space for reflecting on one’s own artistic practice and last but not least the young explo (Junges explo) as an experience space for children and young people. The development of the spatial infrastructure as well as the communication and transfer of improvisation experiences are therefore the core areas of the exploratorium’s work.

The exploratorium has been offering courses, workshops and concerts for children and young people for a long time. With the development of the young explo, however, this area has recently been expanded significantly. This is reason enough to give questions about musical education and improvisation pedagogy a special place at the symposium: How can we share and pass on the aesthetic experience of improvising? What role does improvisation play in teaching music?

On the one hand, international research projects dedicated to these topics will be presented at the symposium. Simon Rose (Keynote), Guro Gravem Johansen (Norwegian Academy of Music), Raymond MacDonald + Graeme Wilson (University of Edinburgh), Laura Navarro (University of Granada) & Eeva Siljamäki (University of the Arts Helsinki) speak and discuss in a video meeting broadcast live in the exploratorium.
On the other hand, four projects of the young explo are presented and discussed from this point of view: geräusch[mu’si:k], Schall & Schatten, Stefan Roszak’s KlangSpielFeld and the Concerts for the whole family of Sarotti Instant.

As a prelude to the symposium, our concert series Sound & Lecture presents the Serbian sound artist Svetlana Maraš and the Bulgarian-German violinist Biliana Voutchkova. Both are experienced improvisers and improvisation teachers. Svetlana Maraš has also given numerous courses for children and has been appointed professor for creative music technology and co-director of the Basel electronic studio at the FHNW University of Music (University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland) from September 2021. Biliana Voutchkova gives international workshops at universities and festivals and is also a workshop leader at the exploratorium. Musically, Svetlana Maraš and Biliana Voutchkova build on their long-term collaboration with new ideas. Moderated by Mathias Maschat, they talk about what improvisation means to them and what concerns them, as teachers, with the passing on of their art.

Recording: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5wg28MoBUuWt8Pf1_eL3EE5CTgs7Htg1