The town of Palazzolo Acreide is situated 43 kilometres (27 mi) from the city of Syracuse in the Hyblean Mountains. Its cemetery is a city of stone for itself and probably hosts more inhabitants than the town has living ones.
A city of the dead…with rows of fresh flowers
“Il Giorno dei Morti” had been the day before yesterday, and we found the cemetery dotted with flowers. The air was saturated from the scent of lilies, with the herbal aroma of the chrysanthemums wavering in between. The after noon sun shone on granite and sandstone, there were impressive family vaults in the shape of small cathedrals, and graves so massively lidded with marble slabs that even on the day of resurrection the dead underneath would not be able to lift them …
The dead here do not rest in earth, or do they? By what means are these massive stones lifted then? Many gravestones were adorned with finely chiseled rose garlands, quite in the style of softly rounded rococo roses (in contrast to rose reliefs on German cemeteries that usually show a tea-hybrid style rose). Maybe this was a specialty of the local stonemason at that time.
Stone roses… and sunglasses (after dark)
All gravestones carried oval enamel or porcelain plates with a portrait of the deceased, the majority of them in black and white. Stern faces, many of them young. Some men were portrayed with their sunglasses on. Among the women there were many beauties that had died in their early 20s or 30s. No one was smiling (except for a lady on a 1980s colour photograph). Time and sunlight and rain had worked on the surface chemistry of the portraits: Silvery lines and spots obscured parts of the face, or partly changed their expression. It made them reminiscent of photographs of ghost séances –with the ectoplasma appearing as a silvery or white substance in the picture. But even without blemishes many faces spoke clearly of the hardships of Sicilian life: black eyes staring relentlessly back at the visitors, hairdos worn like invincible castles, and an unspoken sadness in the lines of the mouth of all of them.
Von Zeit zu ZeitAmazing artwork
There were rose bushes too, growing by the side of the gravestones. By the size of their branches they must have been old. 50 years, 70 years and plus. I kept wondering why or who would plant a rose in between either two graves or just at the border of a stone. “These roses”, said Patti, “maybe just fell out off the bouquets or wreaths and took root.” “These are grafted roses”, I said, “I don’t believe so”.
Rosehips enjoying the sunlight
… despite the confinement
We passed dozens of bushes, each almost directly growing from under a grave. In my imagination all those roses had been there first. Maybe this place had been a former rose garden. Or, when the cemetery was founded, the graves were smaller and earth only with a small stone. Any rose bush planted at that time could continue to grow after having graciously endured the great marble immortality of the late 1940’s.
A different arrangement with melocactusDead and alive at the same time: an opuntiaRead More
Preview: Saturday, 23rd of February In episode #4, Datscha Radio Taipei will focus on aspects of environment and species and the arts. A modest, two-part introduction will accompany the show. As a definitve highlight I am honored to welcome the Erhu instrumentalist HUANG Chen-Chi in the studio. Since she can only stay until 4:20 pm, I advise you to listen from the beginning as she has prepared a very special program for Datscha Radio.
HUANG Chen-Chi is currently the Principle second Erhu of the Taipei Chinese Orchestra
Within the frame of her music you will also be able to listen to an excerpt from my conversation with Margaret Shiu from the Bamboo Curtain Studio, “The Plum Tree Tea Talk”. What is the role of the arts in communicating new perspectives on the environment? How can we include all members of the community? What actions are currently taken by the city council to foster a new kind of awareness?
Another special treat will be a presentation of the work of Japanese composer Tomoko Momiyama. Most of her pieces deal with communication between species and un-animate surroundings.
I am also very happy and proud to be able to include the radio art piece “The Culture of Disappearance” by the American artist Jacki Apple in this upcoming broadcast. This composition was conceived of in 1991 and was then still recorded on tape.
The broadcast will approach its end with an extensive interview with the Philippine composer Christine Muyco. We talk about invasive species and further environmental perspectives in the Philippines, framed by selected compositions by her. Last but not least, and having already heard quite a bit about frogs, I am delighted to close this show with a selection of Yannick Dauby’s “Songs of the Frogs in Taiwan”. Yannick is presently traveling, but, with a bit of good fortune, he’ll be also present at Datscha Radio’s last show.
Live Concert: Huang, Chen-Chi Programm:
Dance of the Amis Tribe (阿美族舞曲)-using elements of folksong music
Singing of Birds Resounds in the Valley (空山鳥語)-Using glissando, which is the crucial skill that makes Erhu sounds special, to make imitation of language or sound effects.
Horse Racing (賽馬)-If you have never played or heard this piece, never say you have learned Erhu.
Interview and Talks (Pre-recorded): Christine Muyco, Margaret Shiu, et al Radio Art Special: “Culture of Disappearance” by Jacki Apple Selected Compositions: Christine Muyco, Tomoko Momiyama
About the Artists
Huang Chen-Chi:Currently the Principle second Erhu of the Taipei Chinese Orchestra, Huang is an experienced, highly talented young Erhu player who has appeared as soloist with the Orchestra for many times. Her performance is exquisite, shows creativity and freshness and the tone sounds warm and solid.
Her other notable solo appearances include The Sound of Memory (日常尋聲) at the Taipei ZhongShan Hall (2017), Set off at Dawn(天一亮就出發) at the National Concert Hall in Taipei (2013) and Music and Sound(樂兮 鳴兮) at the National Taiwan Normal University (2009).
Huang graduated from the Graduate Institute of Ethnomusicology, National Taiwan Normal University, focusing on performing art and preservation of traditional music of Taiwan. Apart from performing with the Taipei Chinese Orchestra, she is also a lecture in Erhu at the Chinese Culture University and Nanhua University.
The Erhu is a traditional Asian two-stringed instrument that came to China more than one thousand years ago. The Erhu is also a very versatile instrument, being used in both traditional and contemporary music arrangements.
Maria Christine Muyco is Associate Professor 5 of the Composition and Theory Department, College of Music, University of the Philippines. Composed for voice, European instruments like cello and piano, but also for electronic music, percussion, musical saw. Has been taking part in Festivals and conferences all over the Globe.
Tomoko Momiyama works internationally as a music composer, dramaturg, and producer of multi-disciplinary art events, installations, and performances. She graduated from Stanford University in the U.S. with B.A. in Music and Human Biology and further studied composition at the Royal Conservatory of the Netherlands in The Hague under the Japanese Government Overseas Study Programme for Artists. Tomoko’s works, many of which are community-based and site-specific, have been performed throughout Japan, as well as in different parts of Asia, Europe, North and Central Americas, and Africa.
Margaret Shiu is the founder and artistic director of the Bamboo Curtain Studio. The aim of this artist residency (and garden) lies in facilitating international artist contacts, provide a space for experimental and environment-orientated installations and to foster an ecologic understanding that leads us to a sustainable way of living and creating art. She’ll be our live guest on the 10 of March, but for now, you have to content with a recording.
Jacki Apple is an American artist, writer, composer, producer and educator based in New York City. She has worked in various disciplines such as performance art and installation art. As well as art making, Apple is also a prolific writer, penning over 200 reviews and critical essays on topics such as performance art, media arts, installation art and dance. The Culture of Disappearance series (1991) deals with biological as well as cultural extinction.
The Culture of Disappearance (1991) A radio “opera” about extinction, and the conditions of loss and denial endemic to industrial and post-industrial society. It is a dirge for the exterminated species of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a grieving. It raises questions about the terms of human survival in a social order that defines us as “separate,” and reveals how those values are manifested in our socio-economic and political relations — i.e., conquest vs. cohabitation, consumption without regeneration. We eradicate cultural memory just as we eliminate species. The sung “mass” of names of the dead from insects to languages is sometimes obliterated by the relentless pounding of machinery. Embedded in the litany are anecdotes of annihilation.
Yannick Dauby explores the soundscapes of Taiwan through field recording, audio documentaries and community projects. Composing electroacoustic music (aka “musique concrète”) and performing improvised music with found objects, analogue devices and digital processing. Creating soundtracks and sound environments for contemporary dance, public art and films. Involved in activities about ecology and local traditional cultures.
Out soon: Datscha Radio’s festival documentation “Plots and Prophecies”! And of course we’ll gather in the garden to celebrate :)
The booklet features five essays by the editors, each offering her personal perspective on radio, gardening and the topic of the day; author Rafik Will contributed a most insightful article on the event as it bloomed during those five days in August and there is poetry by our garden resident artist Hans Kellett.
Plenty of photos and illustrations too, and the best of it: It is bilingual! And hello, Artists and Supporters: get your free copies! If you can, straight from the garden party at the 28th!
2-7pm
We are looking forward to seeing you there – let us know if you can make it: info@datscharadio.de
P.S. Last but not least: The audio archive is on its way into the digital universe. The first of our three audio casts “Midday Discussions”, edited by Niki Matita, is available here: https://www.mixcloud.com/minimatika/datscha-radio-17-diskussion-am-mittag-zukunft-des-schrebergartens-niki-matita-g%C3%A4ste/
More shows will soon appear here (Thanks to Valeria Merlini!): https://www.mixcloud.com/datscharadio17/
Datscha Radio 17 is getting ready: Artist Hans Kellett has already taken a probe of the electric whispers of the potatos, and the printer is set up to receive and translate their secret conversations. Many many things have been transported to the Datscha, the studio is furnished and the flag is flying. There is a tent to shelter us from any rain and today’s surprise: We got an extra fridge!!!! We hear us tomorrow at 12!
They do have something to tell!
Kate and Hans setting up the plant communication devices for “Greenhouse Emissions”
Weather forecast is favorable.
AB knows how everything works. Many thanks to Studio Ansage!
Datscha Radio 17 is already collecting rain water, digging the soil over and sowing new sounds…. in order to be able to impregnate the ether with fabulous radio art in August. For this, the 5 ladies of the curatorial team connected to an electrified fennel and came up with a motto for each day of the festival:
Friday, 25th August: Hortus Politicus | The Political Garden
Saturday, 26th August: New Symbiosis | Plants, Fish and the Acoustic BBQ
Sunday, 27th August: Biotopes in Future Perfect | Life After the Abolition of Species
Monday, 28th August: Birds and Bees | Urban Gardening and Music For The Animals
Tuesday, 29. August: Subterranean Meditations | The Imaginary Garden
We will discuss, count rain drops and speak of bees and ants. We will savour radio streams from far away countries and fertilize the garden with sound collages. A more detailed programme schedule will be published soon. Go on now, ground your antennas and angle them towards Berlin-Rosenthal!
