The Library for the Performing Arts is delighted to welcome the Kinokophone Collective, a world-wide organization of sound artists, field recordists, and listeners, for their first New York City Kinokophonography Night, Thursday, February 6 at 6 p.m. This is a guest post by Amanda Belantara, co-founder of Kinokophone Collective, explaining the history of her organization and what you can expect on February 6.

Kinokophone collects and composes sounds, stories and imagery from around the world. We take our name from the Japanese word for mushroom. Mushrooms are a product of intricate connections that lie beyond the surface, with roots in folklore and imaginary worlds, much like the work we produce. We are an artist collective, producing installations, sound for documentary films, oral history projects, music, tapestries, models; anything that we think is exciting and fun! We also organize Kinokophonography, a curated ‘sound cinema’ event that features audio works from around the world.

Kinokophonography is a unique public gathering in celebration of the sounds around us; exploring the experience of listening by sharing sound recordings and discussing what the recordings and the process of making them can bring to life. In organizing Kinokophonography, we are able to further our research as field recordists and sound oriented artists by creating an interdisciplinary platform for sharing work and ideas. We hope to encourage dialogue between practitioners working with sound from multiple disciplines; creating a forum for creative exchange where artists can learn new recording techniques and ways of working from their peers in a supportive environment. We want to provide opportunities for the public to engage with artists in conversations initiated through the stories that sounds can tell.

Kinokophonography launched in 2011 in Manchester, UK and the mycelium of sound spores has continued to grow since. It is always exciting to hear the wide variety of sounds that are sent in from across the globe. Through the submission process, we are introduced to worlds that we had not yet imagined and have the privilege to listen in and hear what’s going on all around us. In bringing the event to NYC, we are very curious to hear how locals might open our ears up to new ways of experiencing and knowing the city! We are delighted to collaborate with the New York Public Library of Performing Arts and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound and hope that the event will help raise awareness of the amazing collection of recordings that are available there. Kinokophonography takes place on 6 February, 2013 and is free and open to everyone!

We are currently curating a special program around the theme of “community” and hope that you will join us and help us create a new community of listeners here in the city. We await you with open ears!

—Amanda Belantara