»Sonic Crossings« – Resonant Listening

Which sounds connect people? What feelings, memories, and stories are carried by certain sonic textures? With »Resonant Listening«, we open a space where the musical heritage of communities becomes audible. We trace sounds that do more than just tones – they resonate because they hold memory, create belonging, and express shared experience. We’re interested in melodies, songs, and sonic fragments that carry particular – sometimes iconic – meaning: in everyday life, in resistance, or in exile.
Music crosses borders – it remembers, connects, and comforts. For many, it becomes a space of return: familiar sounds recall past realities and evoke closeness to distant people or places. Music is not only a vessel of memory – it also initiates new resonances: between individuals, within communities, and across cultural boundaries. It becomes both anchor and agent – a shared listening experience that often says more than words.
The »Resonant Listening« session invites the artists of Sonic Crossings – a joint project by the Goethe-Institut, Goethe-Institut in Exile, and Pop-Kultur Festival – to present up to three tracks: formative genres, iconic songs from specific regions, or the personal soundtrack of their youth. These selections provide personal insights while reflecting collective memory, cultural context, and social realities.
The evening ends with a live ambient set that opens up new spaces for resonance – music as a space for shared memory, encounter, and future connection.

The tracks will be compiled into a playlist – where possible – and made available as a resonant archive for future listening.