George Edmondson

Sonic Solastalgia

Lecture

This presentation explores the concept of “sonic solastalgia” through fieldwork conducted on the Greek island of Samothraki, where shifting environmental and cultural soundscapes reveal deep connections between place, memory, and identity. Drawing on walking-with and listening-with methods, I document how residents relate to the natural sounds of their environment – waves, wind, goat bells – and how these become imagined echoes in the mind. This lecture invites participants to consider how movement, place, and listening intersect, creating opportunities to reflect on the emotional and ecological dimensions of sound in transition.

This presentation explores the concept of “sonic solastalgia” through fieldwork conducted on the Greek island of Samothraki, where shifting environmental and cultural soundscapes reveal deep connections between place, memory, and identity. Drawing on walking-with and listening-with methods, I document how residents relate to the natural sounds of their environment – waves, wind, goat bells – and how these become imagined echoes in the mind. This lecture invites participants to consider how movement, place, and listening intersect, creating opportunities to reflect on the emotional and ecological dimensions of sound in transition.

George Edmondson

Sound artist and researcher exploring sonic memory, ethnography and environmental change through participatory and place-based listening practices.

Author: George Edmondson
Photo: Matej Tomažin

YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN

no signal

no signal

A curatorial performance uses sound, poetry and text-scores to rethink “no signal” as an opening for hearing silence and the silenced differently.

Ethnography of Silence(s)

Ethnography of Silence(s)

Drawing on ethnographic research into exodus, memory and belief, the lecture examines silence through power, trauma, resistance and collective identity.

The Culture of Listening

The Culture of Listening

A conceptual walk from physics and psychoacoustics to sound ecology addresses noise, the right to silence and the social responsibility of listening.

The Slovenian Reception of John Cage – Meaningful Silence

The Slovenian Reception of John Cage – Meaningful Silence

The lecture traces the ambivalent reception of John Cage in post-war Slovenian music and his resonance in alternative and interdisciplinary practices.

Sounding in Silence: Non-verbal Sound Games in the Rhythm of Opposites and Contradictions

Sounding in Silence: Non-verbal Sound Games in the Rhythm of Opposites and Contradictions

A peripatetic lecture explores intentionality, rhythm and the paradox of experiencing sound and silence while walking.

A Walk from the St. Bartholomew Canal to Canal Grando

A Walk from the St. Bartholomew Canal to Canal Grando

A guided walk through the Lera area of the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, presenting traditional salt production practices.

AudioSwarm

AudioSwarm

A listening walk inviting participants to collectively embody an insect swarm through sound.

Contemporary Saltworking

Contemporary Saltworking

Contemporary salt-making reveals seasonal labour, landscape and community through film and sound.

Walk to a Place of Strength

Walk to a Place of Strength

An artistic contribution in which the author explores walking as a political-somatic practice and the body as a site of relation with space, ecosystems and community.

The Museum and Heritage of Saltworking

The Museum and Heritage of Saltworking

The Museum of Salt-Making reveals the history, labour and heritage of human–saltworks cohabitation.