With 1 million Hongkongers reportedly living amid an incessant urban drone measuring more than 70 decibels every day, the city's 'soundscape' seems comprised solely of drilling, traffic and the clack of mahjong tiles.
Not so, says artist Yeung Yang, who believes that if we prick up our ears, there is a realm of less familiar sounds waiting to be discovered. The public will get a chance to explore these sounds over the next few weeks at a mini-festival curated by the 38-year-old.
Titled Around, the series of sound installations, live performances and workshops promises to expose audiences to new listening experiences and 'forgotten sounds'.
Participating artists will include Donna Ong and Jason Lim from Singapore, Akio Suzuki from Japan, Yan Jun from the mainland and local artists Jaffa Lam Laam, Phoebe Hui Fong-wah, and musician John Lee Yiu-shing.
Yeung says noise pollution has made most of us less sensitive to subtler sounds, such as the ringing of church bells. We have long forgotten how beautiful they sound, she says.
'People talk on the phone so loud these days because the background is noisy. We are trying to cover one layer of sound with another, louder, one,' says Yeung from Soundpocket, a new organisation committed to sound art.
