BEK invites artists, musicians and researchers for a gathering, exploring listening as a way of relating to environments, communities, and more-than-human worlds. The gathering is developed and conveyed by sound artist pantea, with contributions from Carolyn Rosten, Mehdi Torkaman, Amber Ablett, Associació So, Radio alHara – راديو الحارة, and Jiennagoahti.

The seminar is open to artists, musicians, researchers, and anyone interested in sound, listening, and collective forms of inquiry. Sign up here to join.

Rather than presenting a fixed, mono-author programme, the gathering unfolds through a series of workshops, presentations, walks, shared tea and listening situations, where invited artists, researchers and local practitioners become collaborators in an evolving process of inquiry.

At the heart of the gathering is Nest, pantea´s ongoing artistic and curatorial practice that approaches listening as a way of making space with others. Inspired by a recent conversation between Pantea Armanfar and fellow writers Amber Ablett, Ren Loren Britton, T.L. Cowan, Anna Ramos, Jas Rault, Carol Stampone and Rehana Zaman, “Nest, Rest, Refusal” (forthcoming, Re-Imagine Europe, 2026), the gathering explores what it might mean to nest collectively, attending to rest, refusal and hospitality as active practices of being together.

Programme

Tuesday, 18 August: Sensing the Living World

The gathering begins with building a listening nest (nest-streambox), exploring how environmental data and bioacoustic monitoring can become shared, embodied forms of listening rather than systems of passive observation.

12:00–13:00 Open Studio and nest building

An informal presentation of the prototype by pantea at BEK. Participants are invited to make their own nests and DIY streamboxes while contributing ideas to the evolving project.

You are welcome to stay at BEK until the presentation. A light lunch will be provided.

16:00–17:00 Listening to Nature
Presentation by researcher Carolyn Rosten (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research / NINA, online with in-person gathering at BEK).

How can listening help us understand the health of ecosystems? Carolyn Rosten presents her research using bioacoustics and AI to monitor biodiversity, drawing on examples ranging from bird migration between Spain and Finnmark to salmon aquaculture, whales and insects.

The presentation is followed by a conversation led by pantea, bringing artistic and environmental humanities perspectives into dialogue with scientific approaches to sensing, monitoring and ecological data.

Join online:
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 874 0589 4353
Passcode: 685563

The presentation can also be followed in person at BEK.

Wednesday, 19 August: Listening with Jiennagoahti

16:00–18:00 Nest Recipes
Workshop by Mehdi Torkaman at BEK

Through zine-making and simple bird-feeder construction using recycled materials, participants explore everyday practices of hospitality, knowledge-sharing and collective making. Together they develop “nest recipes” that become part of the residency’s growing archive.

Thursday, 20 August: Attuning and Silence(s)

The nest-streambox is installed at Jiennagoahti, where live listening continues throughout the day. Visitors are welcome to spend time in the listening lodge, while an online radio stream makes the project accessible remotely. The zines produced the previous day will offer prompts and listening exercises for visitors.

15:30 Meeting point

Fløibanen lower station. Walk to Jiennagoahti together from Fløibanen Upper Station. Accessible by foot, a 10 minute walk from the Fløibanen Upper Station.

16:00–17:00 Soft Armour
Workshop by Amber Ablett at Jiennagoahti

Continuing her ongoing research into the armour we wear to protect our softness, Amber Ablett leads a participatory workshop exploring how moments of introduction and encounter can become spaces for gently undoing the structures that shape identity and belonging.

Participants are invited to record a short sound from their morning before arriving (a simple phone recording is sufficient).

17:00–18:00 Tea and closing gathering
Hosted by pantea at Jiennagoahti.

Friday, 21 August: Online Reflection

19:00 Bergen / 20:00 Bethlehem / 18:00 London

) listening room (#43
on Radio Alhara

As part of the ongoing ) listening room ( series on Radio Alhara, mort drew, co-founder of Associació So, will live-mix sounds from the Nest stream at Jiennagoahti, reflecting on the residency through live listening, nest recipes and conversations that understand silence as a generative space.

The session takes place in the Radio Alhara chatroom and is open to anyone wishing to join remotely.