Qualia (English version)

Five women, several languages
Charo Calvo
(44″25′, 2017)

Five women artists living in Brussels; all raised in several languages; each one from a different cultural background. They tell, in their mother tongue, a vital moment, an intense sensorial experience, that left a physical imprint. One of them is not telling the truth though. How to transmit those experiences only through language when their words are translated, albeit ‘properly’ by another woman?

Qualia questions the body/mind problem, the impossibility of sharing with others the exact perception of a color, of the temperature of a hand or the taste of wine. Qualia questions the use of sound in storytelling, it’s power to reach the subconscious, it’s power to provoke physical reactions and to trigger mental images. Do you see what I mean?

*

Voice and texts: Kitty Crowther, Zahava Seewald, Meryam Bayram, Sonia Pastecchia, Charo Calvo.

Translation and english voice: Caroline Daish Recordings: Charo Calvo, Bastien Hidalgo Mastering: Bastien Hidalgo
Studio: Acsr and author’s studio.

Produced by ABC Soundproof Australia, with support of ACSR Belgium and FACR de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.

Listen more

Ana Teodora Popa

Green Areas

A poem by Gabi Eftimie (English, Romanian)

7’11” // October 2020

Ana Teodora Popa

Green Areas

A poem by Gabi Eftimie (English, Romanian)

7’11” // October 2020

Elena Diaconu

Marseille-Tokyo-Osaka-Bucharest

A sound stop-over in Japan, in between homes (French, English, Japanese)

2’48” // August 2020

Elena Diaconu

Marseille-Tokyo-Osaka-Bucharest

A sound stop-over in Japan, in between homes (French, English, Japanese)

2’48” // August 2020

Abby Lee Tee

Frogs of Timișoara

Syntopia:Bega Outtakes

8m52s // December 2021

Abby Lee Tee

Frogs of Timișoara

Syntopia:Bega Outtakes

8m52s // December 2021

Maria Balabaș

Măr din măr

How I made peace with my garden (Romanian)

6m54s // November 2021

Maria Balabaș

Măr din măr

How I made peace with my garden (Romanian)

6m54s // November 2021

Miron Ghiu

Gare de l’Est

A train-spotter in a short trip to Paris

16’49” // 2018

Miron Ghiu

Gare de l’Est

A train-spotter in a short trip to Paris

16’49” // 2018

Anamaria Pravicencu, Manja Ristić

Gardens of Christiane

The Palestine from before (English, French, Arabic)

26m12s // September 2025

Anamaria Pravicencu, Manja Ristić

Gardens of Christiane

The Palestine from before (English, French, Arabic)

26m12s // September 2025