Listening to Urban Space

In this workshop, different modes of listening to urban space will be investigated, particularly in contexts of conflict and violence—whether the “slow violence” of gentrification or the sudden violence of warfare and genocide. 

What can listening reveal about the city as it undergoes violent transformation? How might attention to the sonic realm generate new insights for urban studies and practice, including by making perceptible what residents experience during moments of conflict and upheaval? 

Co-moderated by Sena Karahan and Onur Atay of Urban.koop, the workshop will open with a keynote lecture by Professor Gascia Ouzounian (University of Oxford) on Counterlistening to the City. This talk will examine practices of “counterlistening” to urban space, particularly in relation to urbicide and urban violence. What can counterlistening—listening against empire, listening to those who are not heard—offer to our understanding of the city? Ouzounian will draw on recent research from her forthcoming book The Trembling City, which explores the sonic dimensions of urbicide in places including Gaza and Beirut. 

The workshop will conclude with a site-specific sound walk led by Sena Karahan through the conference venue and its surrounding area, inviting participants into embodied, action-oriented dialogue.