The Miraculous Land is a sound performance-installation that approaches planet Earth as a living body.

“What is the sound of a tree falling in the forest, if nobody is there to hear it?”, asks a student of philosophy.”
— Murray Schafer, The Tuning of the World (1977)

Drawing on sounds gathered from the Gulbenkian gardens – the sounds of living beings, both human and non-human – a multichannel sound composition is crafted that invites us to reflect upon the “natural soundscape” (Schafer, 1977) of our time.

The performance guides a collective listening experience in which the sound piece envelops visitors, inviting them to question, through sound, the symbiosis between the Earth and the beings that inhabit it:

What sounds constitute a contemporary natural soundscape?;
To what extent does it merge with the beings that inhabit it?;
And to what extent does it merge with technology?;
What impact do the new sounds and noises generated by humans have upon the ecosystems of the natural soundscape?

The Institution(ing)s is funded by the European Union. The views expressed are, however, those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of the European Union or Creative Europe. Neither the European Union nor the funding authority can be held responsible for them.

Earth Day

This activity is part of Earth Day at Gulbenkian – a celebration of “Mother Earth” for all ages. Read more