Sonic Acts Biennial 2024 presents:
Custom instruments designed and built in the frames of Michel Waisvisz’ project.

Touched by Sound takes up the legacy of the pioneering performer and instrument maker Michel Waisvisz (1949–2008).

Together with *Kristina Andersen and Sonic Acts, artist and composer Tarek Atoui explores Waisvisz’ archives as a catalyst for new forms of experimentation. The historical materials, both physical and ephemeral, are positioned in dialogue with an emerging generation of artists and former collaborators, to be transformed in the present.

Newly commissioned instruments and re-editions of Waisvisz’ innovations both diverge from and bring together the archive. Functioning as gestures, the instruments and other archival materials initiate communal narratives, introduced through workshops, conversations, and a performance during Sonic Acts Biennial 2024 events at BIMHUIS.

Talks, Presentations, and Concert
On Sunday 3 March, a series of talks and a performance invite us to explore the idea of touching sound within Waisvisz’ work. Firstly, artists Boris Shershenkov, Görkem Arikan, Andersen, and Atoui present the new instruments, discussing the fascinating process of re-editing them. The second part of the evening features a durational collective improvisation involving a group of musicians who will showcase the artistic continuation of Waisvisz’ ideas. Brought together for this performance, Takuro Mizuta Lippit aka dj sniff, Ji Youn Kang, Julia Giertz, and Tarek Atoui will engage with the new instruments as well their own tools to explore gesture and the inherent tactility of sound as a medium within electronic music.