While the social and economic impacts of the housing crisis are well documented, its many psychological, affective, relational, and existential impacts often remain in the blind spot of current research. The project Réverberations d’une crise: a sound inquiry on housing in Montreal postulates that paying attention to sound can make neglected dimensions of this issue perceptible. A sound inquiry implies using the medium of sound to better understand and act on this social and political issue. Through sessions of listening, recording, discussion and exercises, a collective of tenants produced a process of inquiry and composition that will be shared in three different forms :
Album
Podcast
Video
Reverberations d’une crise / Sounding the housing crisis
The podcast Réverbérations d’une crise: Sounding the Housing Crisis brings together a series of compositions, on the border of audio documentary and radio art, articulating the more experimental aspects with analysis and discursive contributions (interviews, presentation of the process underlying the project, etc.). This is where the more reflexive and analytical dimension of the project is unfolded. Some episodes will be broadcasted on CKUT 90.3 FM.
I co-produced the podcast with Hubert Gendron-Blais, organizing and editing the contributions from each member of the collective into an eight episode series. The project was partially inspired by the “militant sound inquiry” of Ultra-Red. In 2021, Ultra-Red co-founder Dont Rhine visited Montreal for a seminar at McGill, followed by a workshop/performance as part of Echoes of a Distance, Music, Protest and Community in Confined Times, organized by Hubert and The International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI).