Sonic Club Listening Sessions

Sonic Club was a gathering of audio, radio and listening enthusiasts and all those interested in engaging with sonic explorations. Sessions ran at cultural centre Museum of Impossible Forms in Helsinki between 2022-2025. From 2023-2025, Sonic Club was supported by SKR – Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Sessions:

12.4.2022 Speculative Audible Future Utopias with Ava Grayson

10.5.22 Listening to Cities with Sophea Lerner

. Over three sessions this spring we will inquire what it means to listen – listen to ourselves, to others, and our surroundings.

Sophea Lerner of Phonebox Productions will lead a soundwalk and discussion for the third spring Sonic Club session. Co-founder of creative research collective Delhi Listening Group, Sophea will take participants on a stroll through some practices the group has used over many years to understand the mega-city where they work.

Delhi Listening Group is a collaboration between Ankur Society for Alternatives in Education and Phonebox Productions.
Sophea’s works with sound and broadcast and has spent more than twenty years putting technology to creative and collaborative uses and teaching others to do the same.

24.8.23 Bringing together parties and social justice organising with Ani Phoebe

For the first event this autumn, we are honoured to welcome Hong Kong-based DJ, promoter, writer and cultural organiser Ani Phoebe!

On 24th August, Ani will give a presentation and be in conversation with Miia Laine in an evening exploring how music communities can do solidarity work, thinking about justice when building music spaces, organising in times of austerity, as well as the importance of progressive promoters. Ani will also share some music and records for listening.

Ani Phoebe is a multidisciplinary artist at the intersection of unusual and forgotten records, music community, and political/economic solidarity. Her record shop and party Bad Times Disco has built a strong community in Hong Kong through curated DJ lineups, mutual aid fundraisers, and an inclusive crowd. As well as being a touring DJ, she also intentionally engages with local music communities and regularly facilitates talks and workshops in order to strengthen a culture of collaboration, collective society building practices, and mutual aid/support.

28.9.23 Sounds from the Underground

For our second event this autumn, we’re honoured to welcome the Helsinki-based collective, party platform and co-care network MYÖS!

Tuuli and Kiia from MYÖS will talk about the history of underground clubbing in Helsinki: it’s relation to authorities, mainstream clubs and the culture in general. What is so radical and powerful in people coming together to dance and why is it needed?

Kiia Beilinson (they/she) and Tuuli Pohjola (they/she) are both funding members of MYÖS.
Beilinson works also as graphic designer, artist and DJ. Pohjola is a communication specialist andDJj. They both show special interest in intersectional, queer-feminist and antiracist collective work, community organising and development of safer spaces.

About MYÖS:
MYÖS is a Helsinki based collective, party platform and co-care network for genre-fluid electronic music DJs, VJs, producers, organizers, party lovers and allies of currently underrepresented actors in the local club scene, and anyone in favor of a safer space to party in.
MYÖS works as a non-profit organisation devoted to antiracist & intersectional operation currently acting on a voluntary basis without third party funding. MYÖS emerged in early 2018 and registered as an organisation later the same year.

More info on MYÖS: myosclub.online

14.12.23 Decolonising Southeast Asian Sound Archives

 For our third event this autumn, we’re honoured to welcome Stevie Nolten (Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision) and Fredrik Molin (media pedagogue) from the Decolonising Southeast Asian Sound Archives project (Decoseas)!

We will talk about the colonial nature of archives, about the special and violent nature of sound archives and how to interact with them, the importance of making archives a site of engagement as well as questions of ownership and returning sounds. We will also be listening to some archival material ourselves.

About Fred:
Fredrik Molin is a DJ, podcast producer and researcher currently working as a media pedagogue. He was formerly the station manager at SOAS Radio, an independent community radio station and production company based at SOAS, University of London. Fredrik produced podcasts for academic centres and NGOs and was responsible for the editorial output and training of students. He was also the research assistant to the head of the Philippine Studies at SOAS with research on sound material related to Southeast Asia at the British Library and BBC Written Archive at Caversham. He currently works as a media pedagogue at the Stockholm School of the Arts working with digital storytelling for children and young people.

About Stevie:
Stevie Nolten (she/her) is a researcher working on decoloniality and institutional accountability. She co-founded the project Sounds Familiar at Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, in search of creating a more polyvocal archive that deals with colonial history in all its facets. Sounds Familiar aims to reconcile with its role, responsibility and care that comes with being an archive holder. Stevie holds a MA in Cultural policy, specialized on how cultural institutions can contribute to society in inclusive ways. Next to archiving, Stevie works as a city councilor for the anti-capitalist party BIJ1 in the city of Utrecht.

About Decoseas:
DeCoSEAS is a transnational research project focused on hearing and listening as dialogical modes of knowledge formation in order to renegotiate established understandings of heritage curation.
More info: www.decoseas.org
Listen to the Decoseas Podcast: www.soundcloud.com/decoseas

4.4.2023 How is music political? Thinking and singing Indian music

On April 4th, at Museum of Impossible Forms’ new location, we’re excited to bring to Helsinki ethnomusicologist and singer, the wonderful Prof. Rasika Ajotikar!

The event will bring together Rasika’s musical and scholarly reflections on what it means to sing, learn and think about music. Given that artistic or creative practice often bears traces of a historical baggage marked by exploitative politics, one often struggles to confront the impasses that arise out of the entanglement of politics and art. This presentation draws on specific genres of Indian music to think through such impasses in an attempt to bring together theory and practice. While it will draw on specific genres of Indian music, the presentation hopes to exit a culturalist interpretation and hopes to think about music as form.

Bio
Rasika is a singer trained in the Hindustani music tradition and has been exploring diverse genres and styles of music over the past two decades. She is also an ethnomusicologist currently working as Junior Professor at the University of Hildesheim in Germany.

Sonic Club: Suinner
Tuesday 16th April 2024
18:00 – 21:00
MIF – Aallonhalkoja 9 L1, 00540 Helsinki

Sonic Club is a gathering of audio, radio and listening enthusiasts and all those interested in engaging with sonic explorations. We are now adding to our program deep listening sessions where invited DJs, music collectors, musicians, label owners and music lovers will share some of their collection –records, CDs, cassettes, digital archives- and give some background on the music that shaped and influenced them.

We are especially delighted to have Suinner as our first guest!
Suinner is an interdisciplinary artist known for projects concentrating on intersectionality and representation. Suinner’s career covers performance and visual art projects that have the examination of safety and at their core. Suinner is working on accepting imperfections and creating balance in the chaotic reality. ‘n like – likes music. In their sets you may hear house, amapiano, afrolife, all things hiphop and rnb as well as uk sounds. They are interested in building atmospheres and sliding from feeling to another.

For the Sonic Club, Suinner will bring honey, rhythm and at least one song about crushing.

18:00 open doors
19:00 Suinner

14.5.24 Sound Walk with Sophea Lerner

For the next session we invite you to join us for a sound walk. The session focuses on listening to the environment and will be led by Sophea Lerner. Co-founder of creative research collective Delhi Listening Group, Sophea will take participants on a stroll sharing some of the practices the group has used over the years.‍ Delhi Listening Group proposes listening as an alternative to the map and the plan. Listening is a way of producing knowledge of the everyday city and exploring shifting sonic behaviors that are reconfiguring the borders between sound and noise. Listening is the work we do to re-earmagine the city. Delhi Listening Group is a collaboration between Ankur Society for Alternatives in Education and Phonebox Productions.

Sophea Lerner works with sound and broadcast and has spent more than twenty years putting technology to creative and collaborative uses and teaching others to do the same.

1.6.24 Music in Palestine pre 1948

Museum of Impossible Forms warmly welcomes Nader Jalal, founder and lead researcher of the Palestinian Institute for Cultural Development – Nawa based in Ramallah, Palestine. Established in 2004, Nawa’s focuses on the musical heritage of Palestinians through research, collection, publications, audio productions, and preservation, building one of the most important archives of its kind.

In this presentation, Jalal will trace the diverse musical contributions of Palestine and its profound impact on the broader Arab cultural landscape before 1948 and following the Nakba. From the vibrant atmosphere of clubs and cafes to cinemas and festivals active across historical Palestine, we will explore key cultural hubs that shaped Palestinian musical heritage. We will also listen to some of the earliest vinyl records, extracts from the Palestinian Broadcasting Service – This is Jerusalem (1936-1956), and examine contemporary efforts in archiving, reviving and reproducing this musical heritage, particularly the work of NAWA through album releases, concerts, talks and educational programs.

The lecture will be followed by a conversation between Nader Jalal, Shayma Nader and Miia Laine.

Sonic Club Listening Session: Yalla Collective
Tuesday 18th June 2024
19:00 – 21:00
MIF – Aallonhalkoja 9 L1, 00540 Helsinki

The Sonic Club listening sessions are a relaxed event where we are inviting DJs, music collectors, musicians, label owners and music lovers to share with us some of their collection – records, CDs, cassettes, digital music and, if they wish, give some background on the music that shaped and influenced them.

For this event, we’re very happy to host the wonderful Yalla Collective!

Yalla collective has been shaking up the Helsinki party scene for two years with their mix of dance friendly electronic music and SWANA sounds, as well as vibrant arab pop nights with dabke and other traditional music. The DJs of the collective are diverse in their connection to the culture, all united in pioneering celebrations of these mixed soundscapes. Each member reflects the rich musical tapestry of the region and its diaspora in their sets differently, by drawing inspiration from the musical fields of Damascus, Ramallah, Beirut and beyond.

14.8.24 Women in Senegalese Hip Hop – a listening session with Eve Crazy

We are excited to welcome Senegalese rapper Eve Crazy to Museum of Impossible for a listening session! Eve will talk about Hip Hop from Senegal with a focus on women and share some tracks, as well as perform some of her own music. The talk will be in French, with translation into English by Elina Seye.

About Eve:
Eve Crazy (Awa Sané) is a Senegalese rapper from Bignona, Casamance, Southern Senegal. She started her career in 2012, being one of the very few female rappers at the time. In 2016 she was awarded the title of Best Female Artist in the Senegalese Galsen Hip Hop Awards. In 2018, she toured Europe with Free Voices, a collective of four Senegalese rappers, who are all women. She has also been active in the Genji Hip Hop association, a network of women artists and activists that has been defending women’s rights in Senegal and offering education and working opportunities for its members. Eve Crazy carries a degree in cultural administration and founded her own production company to have full control over her own music and performances. Apart from her solo career, she has been collaborating in the past few years with the Finnish folk musician Marjo Smolander and is currently in Finland for Eve Crazy & Mar Yo duo’s album release tour.

23.4.25 Sudan Cassette Archives with Basam El-Fadl