THE ECCO - 2ND edition
SLIPPERY MEMORY
The creative prompt for this cohort was "Slippery Memory."
Memory can be elusive, unreliable, and constantly shifting. It can be personal, collective, or even fictional.
This time, we're bringing together a truly pan-European group of 15 audio documentarians, sound artists, and reporters from eight different countries—Germany, Slovenia, Spain, Italy, Czechia, Switzerland, the UK, and the Netherlands. Between them, they'll be creating audio pieces in at least five languages.
From April 9-13, 2024, this gathered in a villa near Florence, Italy, to collaborate, experiment, and push the boundaries of audio storytelling.
For around 6 months, the pan-European cohort spent time creating pieces for the prompt "Slippery Memory" — a prompt I initially thought would result in some beautifully silly pieces about forgetfulness has also (actually mostly) resulted in pieces that are quite vulnerable... because what is remembering if not an attempt to imagine truth, be that feelings, people, events.
The prompt led people down the road of thinking of people and events and how they want to, should be, and could be remembered. There's a lot of love that went into these pieces. Love for story, and empathy towards those they're about.. sometimes others, sometimes the creators themselves
MEET THE COHORT
Ní Mise É / It Ain't Me
(English & Gaelic)
A son stitches a prayer from memory and tape. Both archive and offering, it gathers fragments of a father and lingers on what endures after loss.
Cristina Marras
Variations in Memory Flat
(Italian & English)
A quiet reflection on childhood memories, caught in a kitchen in two languages, between big moments of joy and small, unexpected sadness.
Regina (Gina) Steffens
Der Hochzeitspakt /
The Wedding Promise
(German)
What happens when a promise catches up with you?
James Trice
Art of Grief
English
An exploration of how we keep people alive through graffiti.
Judith Geffert
Atemübung / Breathing Excercise
(German)
We breathe every second of our lives without thinking about it. And yet it is so difficult to remember.
Katja Stojnič
Zaupnik / The Confidant
(Slovenian)
A story about two souls who grew old together. Even though he is gone, he is still with her. As her companion.
Katz Laslo
- work in progress -
Lina Prestwood
(feedback & mentorship)
Martina Pouchlá
For Beirut - For Linda(Arabic & Czech)
Linda can´t remember a language, and her mother can't forget a melody.
Nadia Mehdi
Midtown
(English)
TBD
Nina Porzucki
Behind the Veil
(English)
A story about falling and landing.
Phoebe McIndoe
(THE ECCO team)
Kissing
(English)
A kiss to remember.
Tess Davidson
(THE ECCO team)
(feedback & mentorship)
This Wachter
Nacht ohne Erinnerung / Night Without Memory
(German)
During nighttime sleep, the brain organizes memories of the day.
BEST OF PUBLIC ENTRIES
With every round there's a public call for entries. Around 35 entries came in.
A listening panel made up of Marta Medvešek (cohort #1), Phoebe McIndoe (co-organizer), Tess Davidson (co-organizer #3) and THE ECCO founder Jasmin Bauomy listened to all the entries and chose these two for their willingness to experiment with the medium and push for something slightly different. 2 pieces that perfectly fit into the line of pieces created by this pan-European cohort.
We're excited to feature and publish them as part of THE ECCO. Thank you Mae & Julie!
JESSE LOU LAWSON (MASTERING)
Jesse Lawson is a multi award-winning audio producer, performer and sound designer. He’s also a youth worker and community facilitator, which feeds into his audio work. He’s developed new frameworks for co-production and representation, and he designs training for journalists and audio artists. He's running a 6 week online course on Interviewing and Magic in October - more info here.
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS:
On top of all these exciting things, we're so happy that the German podcast studio Pool Artists has decided to sponsor us. So, the Berlin event will be sponsored by them.
Pool Artists are known to be fiends of new and creative approaches to audio. Their co-founder Maria Lorenz is known to pop up at a bunch of international audio festivals and conferences. She and her co-founder Frida Morische are big cheerleaders of THE ECCO and clearly have very good taste when it comes to choosing their sponsorships ;)
And we couldn't be happier about it.
We're also excited for Hindenburg's continued support that comes in different forms, like providing editing software, a small honorarium for creators who submitted work and for funding that made it possible for us to hire the incredibly talented Jesse Lou Lawson to master our pieces.
Stay tuned for updates on all things THE ECCO (sessions, future cohorts, and ways you can get involved.)
If you’d like to support THE ECCO and help make future retreats possible, you can contribute via Ko-Fi or reach out directly for sponsorships or collaborations.