Workshop invitation: Bee Sounds

Tuesday, 15/4/2014, Harp Art Lab, Harplinge, Sweden

The aim of this workshop is to create a collaborative project about beekeeping challenges in today's society. We hope that this project can be shaped artistically by people from County Halland in Sweden: beekeepers, artists, musicians and singers (and maybe some others).

In recent years, beekeeping have collapsed in several parts of the world. Nobody knows for sure why, but a variety of different and sometimes contested theories have been presented and debated.

The Irish duo Softday created the project Amhrán na mBeach (Song of the Bees), between 2010 and 2013, involving a group of Irish beekeepers, a chamber orchestra, a choir with Benedictine monks, an organist, and a poet who had written a poetic diary about her beekeeping. Together, they performed the resulting work in the monastery Glenstal Abbey, April 2013. The music was based on scientific data from the Irish beekeepers, such as presence of varroa mites, foulbrood, etc.

We hope that this approach can create a new and deeper understanding of our relationship to nature.

We hereby invite you to this workshop and hope that you would like to participate.
Please feel free to forward this invitation to friends and colleagues who may be interested to participate.

Tuesday, 15/4/2014

10:00	Welcome to Harp Art Lab!
10:30	Introduction, Softday presents Song of the Beesand asks what can we do now, in County Halland.
10:45	Roundtable introductions
11:00	Coffee break
11:15	Beekeepers, musicians, artists - how can we collaborate.
11:30	Inspired group work.
12:30	Lunch
13:30	Presentation of results of the group activity
15:00	Coffee break
15:15	Conclusion about today’s experiences, proposals for continued work.
16:00	Thanks for today!

We hope this results in the creation of a novel and unique performance to be delivered during the BZZZ sound art festival, July 4-6 2014, at Harp Art Lab in Harplinge!