Silence!? – Sonic (Hi)Stories

How can we rethink our relationship with built heritage through digital means? How can a historic building, no longer accessible to the public, be artistically reimagined? These are the questions Florian Wiencek from the Musealists explored as part of his creative research into the potentials and challenges of soundscaping for digital exhibition spaces.

In the project “Silence!?”, Florian Wiencek creates an immersive sound experience that weaves together the lived histories, potential pasts, and speculative futures of the Palácio Iglésias into a rich sonic narrative. The central question of the work is: “Is an empty building truly silent? And how does the life outside the building resonate within it?” „Ist ein leeres Gebäude wirklich still? Und wie hallt das Leben außerhalb des Gebäudes in ihm wider?“

The AudioAR experience is based on field recordings captured in the immediate surroundings of the Palácio. The empty building itself, its inscribed histories, and the artist’s personal experiences with the site form the foundation of the sonic atmospheres. Through experimental soundscapes and music inspired by subjective perceptions, listeners are transported back to snapshots of the building’s life. The materiality of the built heritage, its perceptions, and the resonances of past events are reinterpreted in a unique sound composition, shedding light on the site from multiple perspectives.

Das Projekt wurde im Rahmen des Programms „Digital Spatialities“ 2024/2025 This project was realized as part of the “Digital Spatialities” 2024/2025 program by Palácio das Belas Artes Lisboa (PdBA) and invites audiences to explore the boundaries between past, present, and future through the power of sound.