Sonic Citizens

Sonic Citizens is an annual event that brings together academics, artists, activists and policymakers to analyse and celebrate the people and the work that make Malmö’s Cultural Sound Zone .

Established in 2021, the cultural sound zone is an urban development initiative by the City of Malmö that “aims to promote a vibrant and dynamic city. Here, local cultural life can continue to grow without the risk of being displaced by housing development or strict noise regulations”. It remains a subject of intense debate as local industry, the municipality, and cultural producers and associations work together to explore the zone’s possibilities and limitations.

Sonic Citizens is part of Malmö University’s LISTEN project in partnership with the NGBG Civic Association and, this year, Lund University’s Sound Environment Centre. Guided by the concept of “sonic citizenship”, those varied processes through which people create a sense of belonging by creating and experiencing sound in different ways, Sonic Citizens explores how practices of inclusive listening can bring the municipality, commercial actors and non-commercial cultural actors into spaces of critical reflection that can support equitable and sustainable urban transition within Malmö’s Sofielund Industrial area.

This year’s programme will include a variety of exhibitions, performances and workshops by Shortwave Collective, the Teranga Music Collective, LARARIUM, Nablus Arabic Culture Association, the Arab Women’s Union, Suji Varma and Firadelic, Jan-Inge Ljungberg, Bad People Good Animals and others, plus contributions from eminent radio studies scholar Kate Lacey (University of Sussex, UK), local politician Andreas Schönström (S), and members of the Sound Environment Centre researcher network. 

The full programme will be published in September.

Location: Malmö’s Cultural Sound Zone (venues include Hypnos Theatre, Musikhuset Bullret and Galleri 8:an).