Building the Bass
Vibration is a form of knowledge that travels through the body before it becomes language. In the world of sound systems, bass reshapes our breathing, alters our perception and turns the body itself into a form of technology.
Beginning with this bodily experience of sound, Construir el grave unfolds as a guided listening session through the history of the aparelhagens of Brazilian Amazonia, from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. Historical recordings, oral accounts, soundscapes and music come together in a sound piece that traces how this culture took shape in the Brazilian state of Pará.
As the piece unfolds, voices and music come together. Archival recordings anchor each song in a particular time and place, while the music evokes the social, territorial and technological worlds in which it emerged. Brief narrations by Natalia Figueredo guide the audience from one period to the next, drawing out the social and political histories carried by these sounds.
Through the culture of the aparelhagens, music produced in the Brazilian state of Pará absorbed and transformed sounds travelling from the Caribbean, other parts of Brazil and across the world. These encounters produced more than a collection of imported influences. They gave rise to a language of its own, shaped by the circulation of records, radio waves, ports, and the urban peripheries of Atlantic Amazonia.
Natalia Figueredo is an architect, urbanist and cultural theorist. Her work brings together urbanism, urban anthropology and cultural studies, connecting her Amazonian roots with global dialogues through research, artistic practice, sound experimentation, writing andteaching. She is currently pursuing a PhD on the materialisation of the built environment in urban Amazonia and its relationship with ways of inhabiting, moving through and building connections in riverine territories. As a researcher with Sonic Street Technologies, she studies the relationships between music, technology and social dynamics in the Global South. She also occasionally performs as a DJ, using sound as a way to connectand celebrate.
Authorship, research, script and direction: Natalia Figueredo
Audio editing and post-production: Victor Arrebola
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Dates
12 September 2026, at 6pm.
Price
5 €
