First edition
September 16–October 29, 2023
The first edition of the Biennale Son (Sound Biennial) takes place in the heart of the Valais (Switzerland). It brings together over 70 artists and musicians at 17 venues in five towns and villages. Alongside a wide-reaching, multi-location exhibition, the public is invited to discover 27 performances and concerts, as well as an international symposium.
The Biennale Son is an event designed to highlight the growing importance of sound in contemporary art. A multi-disciplinary undertaking, it seeks to blur the often too segmented lines between artistic disciplines that are closer than they seem. The Biennale Son features installations, sculptural, two-dimensional, and text-based works, movies, as well as performances, concerts, and plays. It also includes works that induce sound in form or conception but are silent in essence.
Participants in the first edition of the Biennale Son
Saâdane Afif (France), Shatha Afify (Egypt), Agus Nur Amal (Indonesia), Micol Assaël (Italy), Félicia Atkinson (France), Alexandre Babel (Switzerland), Barbezat-Villetard (Switzerland/France), Eric Baudelaire (France), Francis Baudevin (Switzerland), Dominique Blais (France), Céleste Boursier-Mougenot & Ariane Michel (France), Ulla von Brandenburg (Germany/France), Gavin Bryars (UK), Valentin Carron (Switzerland), Julian Charrière (Switzerland), Antoine Chessex (Switzerland), Chaos Clay (Switzerland), Clément Cogitore (France), crys cole (Canada), Collectif Facteur (Switzerland), Axel Crettenand (Switzerland), Alvin Curran (US), Manon de Boer (Belgium), Caterina de Nicola (Switzerland), Marcelline Delbecq (France), dianita (Switzerland), Eastley, Butcher, Beresford (UK), Latifa Echakhch (Switzerland/Morocco), Eklekto (Switzerland), Marino Formenti (Italy), Claire Frachebourg (Switzerland), Eva Frapiccini (Italy), John Giorno (US), Isabelle Giovacchini (France), Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster (France), Romain Iannone (Switzerland), Judith Hamann & James Rushford (Australia), Deborah-Joyce Holman (Switzerland), David Horvitz (US), Kassel Jaeger (France/Switzerland), Tom Johnson (US/France), Dominique Koch (Switzerland), Tobias Koch (Switzerland), Nina Laisné (France), Isabel Lewis (Dominican Republic), Christian Marclay (Switzerland/US), Augustin Maurs (France), Angelica Mesiti (France/Australia), Haroon Mirza (UK), Adrien Missika (France), Laura Morier-Genoud (Switzerland), Max Neuhaus (US), Camille Norment & David Toop (Norway, US/UK), Katie Paterson (UK), Hannah Rickards (UK), Marina Rosenfeld (US), Sébastien Roux (France), Anri Sala (Albania/France), Shimabuku (Japan), Roman Signer (Switzerland), Georgina Starr (UK), Catherine Sullivan (US), The Young Gods & Musique de Landwehr Fribourg (Switzerland), Dafne Vicente-Sandoval & Charles Curtis (France/US), Whirled Music (UK)
Curators of the first edition of the Biennale Son
Jean-Paul Felley, curator and director of the Biennale Son and EDHEA, the Valais School of Art
Christophe Fellay, artist, composer and researcher. Head of the Sound Department at EDHEA
Luc Meier, curator, director of La Becque | Artist Residency
Sylvie Zavatta, director of FRAC Franche-Comté. Curator for the exhibition Echos d'une collection—works by FRAC Franche-Comté collection
Venues for the first edition of the Biennale Son
The town of Sion has been chosen as the capital of this first edition. The nerve center of the Biennale Son is La Centrale, a vast disused hydroelectrical power plant. Beyond this emblematic building, the Biennale Son branches out into the Ferme-Asile, a multi-disciplinary arts center, the Musée d'art du Valais, the Eglise des Jésuites, the Théâtre Le Spot, as well as the Valère Basilica and Tourbillon Castle which, like sentinels, dominate the town.
In Martigny, the Biennale Son has set up in six venues—the Manoir de la ville de Martigny, the Sound Museum, the Louis Moret Foundation, the Valais Media Library, the Grange à Emile and the Saint-Michel Chapel in Martigny-Bourg—where it presents a selection of works drawn from the rich collection of the FRAC Franche-Comté under the title Echos d'une collection—œuvres du FRAC Franche-Comté.
In addition, the Biennale Son is also present at the Théâtre Les Halles in Sierre, at the Musée valaisan des Bisses in Ayent, and at the Edouard Vallet Foundation in Vercorin.
The 1st edition of the Biennale Son is made possible by its main partners the Loterie romande, the Canton of Valais, the cities of Sion and Martigny, as well as its official partners the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, the Italian Council, EPFL, Fondation Nicati- de Luze, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, EDHEA, the Bourgeoisie de Sion, UBS Culture Foundation and the Migros Culture Percentage.
