Kotlarski bridge
 "The sounds of a night under the Kotlarski bridge came with words from Andrii Shamanov, who captured them. When I read his words, I was sure, that they needed a place in my piece, so I recorded most of them. "In the house where I temporarily lived, while listening to his recording for the first time, I found an old music box which I also added - as a sound of a station on the way, a timestamp...
5m Jul 19, 2024
5m
First impressions
"The story of how the original recording first reflected with the city and the intensity of the rain reminded me of the different interactions one makes with a city at first glance. The first impression of a city makes a large impact. In my composition, I wanted to enhance this feeling of first impressions. "I used field recordings I took when I originally visited Lisbon, and my impression mix...
3m Jul 19, 2024
3m
Sospiri
"In Canto IV of the Inferno, Dante introduces Limbo with the sound of "sospiri" (sighs, that made th' eternal air / Tremble [..]). This is where the innocent souls of the unbaptised reside for eternity. "Seven centuries later we're turning fiction into reality. People, whose only fault was being born on the wrong side of the powers to be are sentenced to a grotesque, heartbreaking punishment."...
2m Jul 19, 2024
2m
Ferry leaving Tiree
"I moved to Scotland with my family around 10 years ago; a migration from England to North of the border. I had visited Scotland many times previously and always felt a longing to move here because of the sense of calm and freedom it gave me. Visits to the Hebridean Islands were central to these experiences, knowing the holiday had truly begun once the ferry had left port. I wanted my family to...
3m Jul 19, 2024
3m
Voluntary arrival at Kigali
"The UK government has been trying to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for the last couple of years (as of 2024). This is the announcement of a RwandarAir flight arriving in Kigali from London. "It is the first thing that future asylum seekers will hear when arriving to their new home based on current government plans (at the time of recording). Recorded by Carlos Vargas-Silva. Part of the Migr...
2m Jul 19, 2024
2m
The Garden Ring
"Now I live in the center of Moscow, next to the highway (for 5 years already). There is continuous road noise nearby. And it's very similar to another sound. "Before Moscow I used to live in Vietnam (7 years) near the sea and there was also the noise - the sustained and continuous sound of the sea. My note: the sounds have a different nature: one is natural, the other is industrial. The commo...
1m Jul 19, 2024
1m
Urban monsoon
"I'm originally Hungarian but I have lived in Lisbon, Portugal for many years. Elsewhere, I've never experienced such intense, warm rainfalls which turn the streets into little rivers, the urban scenario into biblical floods. This is a rainy Atlantic afternoon from my window. Recorded by Linda Koncz. Part of the Migration Sounds project, the world’s first collection of the sounds of human mig...
1m Jul 19, 2024
1m
The most
"I come from Mykolaiv, Ukraine. In 2015, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfolded and Crimea was annexed, I made the decision to immigrate to Poland, eventually settling in Krakow. One of my earliest experiences in my new home took place during a solitary walk along the Vistula River. "The night was serene, yet my mind was occupied with questions: Where am I? What am I doing here? Why is th...
1m Jul 19, 2024
1m
Electric pier
"My piece 'Electric Pier' uses and is inspired by a recording of a noisy squeaking pier in Bangkok. The pier is acted upon by the forces of a river and has a bustling city as its backdrop. The squeaking sounds of the pier are full of small and expressive micro phrases that serve as atmospheric wails or else irregular rhythmic cells effusing otherworldly melodies. "By combining the field record...
9m Jul 18, 2024
9m
Roundabout poem
"I was inspired by the text accompanying this recording of a roundabout in the Philippines. I felt the whole experience of migrating, travelling and coming back to a place that is not really home anymore was perfectly described in this text. I took my "scissors", picked the more meaningful words, and played with that material to recompose a sort of poem. "I added to the field recording the cir...
4m Jul 17, 2024
4m
Rememories
"This sound was recorded in October 2023 in Bethlehem, Palestine, so I initially had a difficult time deciding how to use it. However, after taking in the sound a few times in its entirety I decided that it creates an auditory scene of everyday life in a place that since suffered so much devastation. "I chose snippets of the sound that sound like regular interactions and conversations, especia...
3m Jul 17, 2024
3m
Fragments of Palestine
""Fragments of Palestine" reflects a serene sound bath—a peaceful mantra designed to manifest peace and solidarity with Palestine. The composition weaves together drone sounds and organic healing instruments, naturally blending with the everyday sounds that depict the struggle of a resilient nation that has been without a homeland for a prolonged period. "The heart of the recording is a vivid ...
20m Jul 17, 2024
20m
Le souq
"At first what captured my attention was the richness of the all the voices from children, woman and man. So the focus is on the voices, everything is based on that. Aside from the drone and occasional percussions, most of the sounds are heavily treated vocals. Next, I liked the organic side of the market's ambiance, therefore some live percussions was added. I deliberately left out the song ca...
4m Jul 17, 2024
4m
Wake up
"Bethlehem exists in duality: both as a real city and an imaginary notion in the minds of so many throughout different locations and cultures across the world. Those people who actually set foot there can be present for all number of reasons, but the thing that stood out to me from the field recording was its normality - the honk of the car horns, children’s voices … but above all, the sound of...
3m Jul 17, 2024
3m
Kitchen timer (reimagined)
"What immediately drew me to this recording was the profound gentleness, tenderness and warmth that could be felt in it. I wasn't able to transcribe the entire conversation, so I only have a rough idea of what the mother and daughter were talking about. That's why I decided to leave the entire recording in its full length. I only removed some parts with background noise, processed the recording...
11m Jul 17, 2024
11m
A brief walk around the roundabout on Good Friday
I took this recording on 29 March 2024, Good Friday, Holy Week when is God is dead. I walked around the roundabout of Pio del Pilar barangay hall, which is close to where I currently live. Barangay is the smallest local government unit in the Philippines and came from the pre-colonial word balangay which were traditional boats in the Philippines. When I was growing up in a small town, a former ...
2m Jul 17, 2024
2m
The souq
"The city of Bethlehem is situated atop a hill at the edge of the Judaean desert, creating a unique blend of cultures. Bedouin from the desert interact with pilgrims in its town market and navigate its narrow, ancient streets. "This recording captures the ambiance of the "souq", the traditional marketplace located in the city's Old Core. The Souq is a confluence of vernacular units where farme...
3m Jul 17, 2024
3m
Bethlehem
"Bethlehem is situated on the West Bank, a part of Palestine; however, Israel has retained control of entrances and exits. During periods of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such as the current situation, the city has witnessed numerous confrontations. "Due to Christian emigration, Bethlehem now has a Muslim majority, and the atmosphere feels tense. Israel's construction of the separation wall ha...
2m Jul 17, 2024
2m
Bethlehem alleys
"In the historic district of Bethlehem, visitors can easily immerse themselves in the maze of narrow alleys. Charming tiny houses and shops adorned with Arab-patterned carpets create a picturesque scene, complemented by colorful doors. The delightful soundscape of this area was captured around Manara Square. "Just beyond the bustling central Manger Square, a congregation of stands awaits, wher...
3m Jul 17, 2024
3m
Kitchen timer
My mother and I converse about anything and everything while preparing a meal. It is the ordinary moments like these that I cherish the most in my memories of my mother, who lives in what I like to call a distant 'island in an island'. This recording was made in the summer of 2023, during my visit to Aotearoa, my second homeland, after ten years of living abroad. Our native language mixes with...
10m Jul 17, 2024
10m
A journey through a wall
"This recording captures my journey from Palestine back to Israel on an empty bus, which took about two hours or more and involved passing through a few checkpoints along the way. "Life under Israeli control is notably felt in Bethlehem, where an 8-meter-tall concrete separation barrier was constructed by Israel in 2002. The stated purpose was to prevent suicide bombings and attacks, but it is...
2m Jul 17, 2024
2m
To market to market
"I am again and again drawn to markets. I regularly seek them out in both new, and familiar places. They are at the same time, unique to a particular place, time, climate and season, but there's always something familiar about them too, carried across one to another. The way people behave, the look of the stalls, the movement, the crowds, the products, the atmosphere. The freeforming flow of bo...
3m Jul 17, 2024
3m
Morphing echoes
"My work, 'Morphing Echoes,' is a field recording project that captures the sounds of Moroccan soundscape and conversation. I took an approach that incorporates various languages and dialects encountered during migration into the composition. As people become accustomed to their new environment, the initially unintelligible languages and cultures become understandable. "This process is reflect...
3m Jul 17, 2024
3m
Migrant dub
"I embarked on the Migration Sounds journey with the intention of working solely with field recordings. Yet, when I stumbled upon this recording of two Moroccan musicians in the medina of Marrakech, playing the guembri and singing, I was captivated. "The simplicity of the bass line, the repetitive vocals, and the background chatter punctuated by bursts of clapping and laughter all contributed ...
4m Jul 17, 2024
4m
De Unde
"As we journey through new lands, we seek self-discovery or a place to call home. Whether driven by safety or change, we connect with new worlds, bringing pieces of home to unfamiliar places and returning with new experiences. We build on what we know and explore what we encounter, exchanging views on life, customs, trends, language, and recipes. Even on the shortest journey, we create bonds th...
4m Jul 17, 2024
4m
Between fear and hope
"To create this small sound piece I only used a sample from the original recording, a moment from the bus journey that is part of the narrative of the original recording and which seemed to have an interesting sound dynamic. From that sample, I changed the recording tempo and added electronics, from the Touch Me device, using plants, as well as ambient electric guitar. "Were those migrants on ...
2m Jul 17, 2024
2m
Afrikaandermarkt
The Afrikaandermarkt is a market place in the south of Rotterdam. Traditionally a working class area, this neighbourhood, over the last five decades has become a gathering place of cultures from all over the world, and this is reflected in the visitors as well as the sellers and their products of this weekly market in the central square, Afrikaanderplein. This is one of a series of recordings ...
3m Jul 17, 2024
3m
Rabat market
Situated at the heart of Rabat the capital of Morocco, this recording captures the sounds of a lively market. What is unique about this market is that the sub-Saharan migrants have managed to set up small businesses side to side with the local Moroccan businesses. The market reflects a real sense of conviviality and closeness that is rarely seen in other parts of the country. The recording cap...
5m Jul 17, 2024
5m
Musicians in a hostel
This recording comes from a hostel in the medina of Marrakech. It records two Moroccan musicians, playing a guembri (a three-stringed instrument similar to a bass), drums and singing. Guests are clapping and singing along and we can hear talking and laughter. It conveys feelings of hospitality and the joy of a gathering. The music has repetitive, soothing and entrancing qualities. The hosts of...
4m Jul 17, 2024
4m
What news from the village?
Home... what makes us feel a certain way, when we are on the go, exploring new lands to find ourselves, or finding a place we can call ours? Whether we look for safety or change, we are adept at connecting to these worlds. We tend to bring a little bit of ourselves and our home to new places. We carry new experiences back home. We build on the things we know and examine the things we encounte...
1m Jul 17, 2024
1m
Ruti(era) (bus ride to the Roma Hill)
Home... what makes us feel a certain way, when we are on the go, exploring new lands to find ourselves, or finding a place we can call ours? Whether we look for safety or change, we are adept at connecting to these worlds. We tend to bring a little bit of ourselves and our home to new places. We carry new experiences back home. We build on the things we know and examine the things we encounte...
2m Jul 17, 2024
2m
Monarchs
"I often wondered if I was a migrant, until the day I recorded these monarch butterflies in Mexico in March 2015 for an art project. I was surrounded by thousands of monarchs, known for their long annual migration between Mexico and the United States, and at the same time, I was mourning my grandmother, who had passed away in France, back “home”. "I knew I would miss the ceremony and the famil...
6m Jul 16, 2024
6m
Gendered street demonstrations
"We can hear sounds of the March 8 women's day demonstration in Mexico City in which Mexican and migrant women and gender diverse people raised their voices against gendered violence and to foster solidarity and equity. The recording relates to the theme of migration as some of the participants are migrants who face multiple forms of violence across Mexico. "I joined the demonstration together...
1m Jul 16, 2024
1m
Interview with a Syrian rescue worker
"This is a casual interview recorded with Astoun, a rescue worker with SOS Méditerranée, on board the charity ship the Ocean Viking. "Originally from Syria, Astoun travelled irregularly to Europe in the wake of the Syrian civil war, and after some time in Europe decided he wanted to use his maritime background to assist others in similar situations. "Astoun spoke about his motivation to help ...
10m Jul 16, 2024
10m
Ocean Viking sea rescue
"This is the sound of three teams on rigid-hull inflatable boats rescuing around 130 people from an overloaded rubber boat in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, around 2 in the morning on the 27th of December, 2022. "The rescuees, almost all of whom were from West Africa, were attempting to reach Europe from Libya - where they had suffered extensive abuse. Among them were many children, and ...
6m Jul 16, 2024
6m
Children on board the Ocean Viking
"This is a collage of the sound of children between the ages of 3 and 9, speaking in various West African dialects, playing with my radio equipment onboard the charity rescue ship the Ocean Viking on the 28th of December 2022. "The day before, the children along with their guardians had been rescued from a dangerously overcrowded boat in the waters hundreds of kilometres north of Libya. The ch...
1m Jul 16, 2024
1m
Monarch butterflies' moonlight symphony
"I fell in love with the sound of the monarch butterflies – their beating wings – the delicacy and the strength - the very particular frequencies they sound at, the way in which the remarkable field recording allows us to hear individual beating wings, and the potential to both highlight this and to also create a layering thrum. "I read about the monarchs’ extraordinary migratory journey to ‘r...
7m Jul 16, 2024
7m
Forgotten motion
"The voices of the children in this really spoke to me. Migration can be very challenging but can also be exciting and adventurous. I wanted to convey that by using some melancholic feeling sounds but also in adding the voices of the children and optimistic sounds and patterns." Ocean Viking children recording reimagined by Firephly. Part of the Migration Sounds project, the world’s first col...
5m Jul 16, 2024
5m
Tidett
"How to intensify the chaos, courage, hope, broken life stories, action, deep sorrow, and erratic joy contained in the original soundscape? I decided not to intervene temporally. What you hear is what happened in real-time. There are modulations of rhythm and frequency, which give way to a line of three violins and a cello, a piano, and synthesized basses that seek depth and edge. "Working on ...
6m Jul 16, 2024
6m
Astoun
"Astoun’s words are a beautiful, moving, and human story of a remarkable life and sense of purpose. It is a story of direct lived experience. While Astoun speaks gently - what he talks about, about his ‘case’ to help others, is both powerful and the essence of the human spirit of giving. "For the piece we removed most of the interviewer’s questions to elevate Astoun’s voice. We retained the la...
17m Jul 16, 2024
17m
Tear/tear
"Tear/tear is a piece inspired by all the women from the global South who have migrated to the global North, and by the work of the recording’s author, Abril Rios Rivera. As I learned about Abril and her research on migrant women, I started reflecting on my own journey migrating from Colombia to the UK. Her research focuses on understanding what drives women to turn their migration hardships in...
3m Jul 16, 2024
3m
Threads across the sea
"This piece is a collaboration between composer Sarah Jenkins, sound artist Noah Lawson and poet Shukria Rezaei, and was created for the Odyssey Ensemble. The foundation for the piece is the recording provided by the Cities and Migration Sounds project, in which is heard the celebration of a group of West African migrants who had recently been rescued from an overcrowded dinghy. "The jubilatio...
5m Jul 15, 2024
5m
Mindful of Malta
"Both of my parents were from Malta. As I child growing up in Brixton in the 1980s, there was a very small Maltese community. I would go to Maltese mass with my parents. There was never an organ being played for people to sing along too, but everyone used to sing in Maltese. My parents migrated to the UK after World War Two as there was no work. I have always felt like an outsider, growing up i...
5m Jul 15, 2024
5m
Leaving Libya
Three Kenyan women are returning home from Libya through an IOM repatriation scheme. They were forced to abandon their larger suitcases when checking-in, and were attempting to repack their belongings into their carry-ons and an IOM-issued tote bag in the departures lounge. Migrants from other countries were also being repatriated on the same flight and conversed with one another in the seats ...
1m Jul 15, 2024
1m
Ocean Viking celebrations
This is the sound of asylum seekers, mostly from West Africa, onboard the rescue ship the Ocean Viking in the Mediterranean, on the evening of the 27th of December 2022. Very early that morning, they had been rescued from a perilously overcrowded rubber boat in the middle of the sea, hundreds of kilometres from land and without life jackets or navigational equipment, with very little food and ...
1m Jul 15, 2024
1m
Managing urban transit in a city of migration
What does urban sprawl sound like in a traffic-choked city? This recording is of a street intersection in a residential part of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The whistle is from a policeman who has been instructed to stand amidst the traffic so as to over-ride the traffic lights, because the traffic lights can't deal with the volume of urban traffic. Bishkek is typical of many cities, in experiencing b...
3m Jul 15, 2024
3m
Midday mass
This is recording of a midday, midweek mass attended by a few elderly women in the cathedral in Victoria, Gozo, and is a sound that is deeply embedded in my memory of place and immediately connects me to the experience of growing up in Malta. I am not religious but lived with my Maltese family and went to church as everyone did, saint or sinner! It is a short sound clip but for me describes pl...
3m Jul 15, 2024
3m
Après l'heure d'or
"The harrowing journey of these migrants is incredibly powerful and emotional. The field recording is their celebration after being rescued at sea by the Ocean Viking. My musical contribution hopefully speaks to this moment. It's a moment of relief, joy, community, and compassion." Ocean Viking celebration reimagined by Eulipion Corps. Part of the Migration Sounds project, the world’s first c...
2m Jul 15, 2024
2m
Reflection
"When I received the original recording, I’ve noticed this kind of a strange reflection that exist in an environment of recording. All sounds, despite whole noisiness of the space, were somehow reflected almost like a regular delay line. I took this phenomenon as a main subject in composition. "During the work on the material, I’d been trying to "zoom in" on the sound and try to express this i...
4m Jul 15, 2024
4m
Phantomwhere
"This field recording made me think of different layers of migration - firstly, the population’s general tendency to move to the capital from other parts of the country. Secondly, the people moving between the parts of the city. Thirdly, an internal migration - drifting away from the traffic jam to a dreamlike space where the environmental sounds are muffled and become a flow of thoughts and me...
3m Jul 15, 2024
3m