OPEN CALL CARROUSSA SONORE

CONCEIVED AS A MOBILE PLATFORM FOR SOUND ART, THE CARROUSSA TRANSFORMS THE STREETS INTO A SHARED LISTENING ENVIRONMENT, BROADCASTING SELECTED WORKS BY TEN ARTISTS AND REIMAGINING PUBLIC SPACE AS A SITE OF COLLECTIVE SONIC EXPERIENCE.

CONCEPT

ARTISTS ARE INVITED TO CONSIDER HOW SOUND ENTERS INTO DIALOGUE WITH THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT;
SPACES SHAPED BY CONSTANT MOVEMENT, EX/CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION, WHILE RETAINING
DISTINCT IDENTITIES.

CARROUSSA SONORE IS INVITED BY THE IMAGE GENERATOR FESTIVAL (PRODUCED BY EXTRA CITY, C-TAKT & 0090) TO PRESENT AN ANTWERP ITERATION OF CARROUSSA SONORE BETWEEN 17 > 19.09.2026.

THROUGH THISCALL FOR PROJECTS,ARTISTSARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMITASINGLE SOUND-BASED CREATION,UNRESTRICTED BY GENRE OR LANGUAGE, WITH A MAXIMUM DURATION OF 10 MINUTES.

THIS CALL FOR PARTICIPATION IS OPEN TO ANY ARTIST, ASSOCIATION, OR COLLECTIVE OF INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS WITHOUT AGE LIMIT. A PARTICIPATION HONORARIUM OF €185 (EX.VAT) IS PROVIDED PER PARTICIPATING ARTIST AS PART OF THIS PROJECT.

CANDIDATES CAN APPLY BY FILLING IN THIS GOOGLE FORM.

IMPORTANT NOTE: IN ORDER TO BEABLE TO MAKE THE PAYMENT OF THE FEE WHEN SELECTED, ARTISTS MUST BEABLE TO INVOICE (EITHER THROUGH THEIR OWN STRUCTURE ORATHIRD PARTY).

ABOUT THE PROJECT

THE CARROUSSA, “CART”, IS A STREET VENDING PRACTICE FOUND IN THE URBAN LANDSCAPE OF MOROCCO AND THE MUSLIM WORLD. IT HAS A SPECIFIC FUNCTION: TO SELL AND DISTRIBUTE QURANIC CDS BY BROADCASTING RELIGIOUS VERSES IN THE STREETS.

IT COMPRISES A CART MADE FROM RECYCLED ELEMENTS, EQUIPPED WITH A BATTERY TO POWER AN AUDIO PLAYER, AN AMPLIFIER, AND SPEAKERS. WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF “CARROUSSA SONORE” THE OBJECT KEEPS ITS APPEARANCE AND ITS PRIMARY FUNCTION OF AMPLIFYING SOUND, BUT HERE PRESENTS A PANORAMA OF CONTEMPORARY SOUND AND RADIO ART (FROM SOUNDSCAPE TO MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS, FROM SOUND POETRY TO SLAM, FROM DOCUMENTARY TO INTERACTIVE PIECES) AND, IMPLICITLY, IS TRANSFORMED INTO A MEANS OF RAISING AWARENESS OF LISTENING.

CONCEIVED BY YOUNES BABA-ALI IN MAY 2012 IN RABAT (MA), THIS PROJECT PROPOSED A SOUND JOURNEY
THROUGH THE STREETS OF THE MOROCCAN CAPITAL. THE PIECE HAS ALSO TRAVELED IN JANUARY 2013 TO
BRUSSELS (BE), IN JULY 2013 TO TRENTO (IT), IN SEPTEMBER 2014 TO MARSEILLE (FR), IN JULY 2015 TO
LONDON BY BROADCASTING A SELECTION OF SOUND ART RESULTING FROM AN INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR
PARTICIPATION.

THE ARTIST

YOUNES BABA-ALI (MA/BE) MAKES ART THAT IS UNCONVENTIONAL, INTELLIGENT AND CRITICAL, MOSTLY IN PUBLIC SPACE OR PLACES UNCOMMON TO ART PRACTICE. HE IS A SHARP OBSERVER AND RAISES PERTINENT QUESTIONS AIMED AT SOCIETY, THE INSTITUTION AND ABOVE ALL, HIS AUDIENCE. AS A FREE THINKER HE HOLDS A MIRROR UP TO SOCIETY AND CONFRONTS IT WITH ITS INGRAINED HABITS AND DYSFUNCTIONS. BABA-ALI’S WORK OFTEN ASSUMES THE FORM OF THE READYMADE, BUT UNDERNEATH ITS FACADE OF SIMPLICITY THERE IS A COMPLEX EXERCISE IN BALANCE AT WORK. AS AN ARTIST-ALCHEMIST HE MEASURES AND MIXES TECHNOLOGY, OBJECTS, SOUND, VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHY WITH POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL ISSUES. THE RESULTING INSTALLATIONS DISCREETLY COERCE THE UNSUSPECTING VIEWER INTO TAKING A STAND. BABA-ALI SHUNS NO CONTROVERSY AND OFTEN FINDS HIMSELF NEGOTIATING HIS ART AND ITS RATIONALE WITH HIS ENVIRONMENT. HIS WORKS ARE CONTEXT-SPECIFIC AND TAKE THEIR FINAL FORM IN DIALOGUE WITH ITS SPECTATORS. THIS AT TIMES DISRUPTIVE INTERVENTION ART CONFRONTS THE VIEWER IN AN IRONICAL WAY WITH HIMSELF AND HIS ENVIRONMENT. BABA-ALI PRESENTS PEOPLE DILEMMAS AND TABOOS AND CHALLENGES THEM TO (RE)ACT. IN THIS WAY HE MAKES THEM HIS ACCOMPLICES IN ACTS OF ARTISTIC GUERRILLA THAT UNITE THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE COMMON MAN.

PARTNERS

EXTRACITY (ANTWERP, BE):
KUNSTHAL EXTRA CITY IS A THRIVING NON-PROFIT VISUAL ARTS SPACE IN ANTWERP THAT HAS BEEN PRODUCING
AND PRESENTING DIVERSE EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS SINCE 2004. FIRMLY ROOTED IN THE BELGIAN ARTS
LANDSCAPE, EXTRA CITY BRINGS TOGETHER LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL PRACTITIONERS, PROVIDING THEM WITH THE SPACE AND SUPPORT THEY NEED TO DEVELOP THEIR PRACTICES AND REACH NEW AUDIENCES. LOCATED IN A FORMER CHURCH, EXTRA CITY PRIORITISES ARTISTIC PROJECTS THAT EXPERIMENT WITH EXHIBITION FORMATS AND EXPLORE NEW WAYS OF ENGAGING AUDIENCES THROUGH ART.

THE IMAGE GENERATOR (ANTWERP, BE): THE IMAGE GENERATOR IS A MULTI-DAY, TRANSDISCIPLINARY FESTIVAL AT THE
CROSSROADS OF VISUAL ART AND LIVE EXPERIENCES, INCLUDING PERFORMANCE, SOUND AND MOVEMENT. IT IS THE RESULT OF A CLOSE, LONG-TERM COLLABORATION BETWEEN 0090, KUNSTHAL EXTRA CITY, C-TAKT AND SOAP.

WERKTANK(LEUVEN, BE): WERKTANK IS A PRODUCTION PLATFORM FOR MEDIA ART. IT FUNCTIONS AS A WORK TOOL FOR THE ARTIST AND PUTS ITS ARTISTIC, TECHNICAL AND PRODUCTIONAL EXPERTISE AT THE DISPOSAL OF YOUNG AND EMERGING ARTISTS. WERKTANK ACCOMPANIES THE ARTIST THROUGH ALL THE PHASES OF THE CREATION PROCESS OF MEDIA ART, FROM THE RESEARCH PROCESS TILL THE FINAL REALISATION AND ACTIVE DISTRIBUTION OF THE WORK, BY OFFERING RESIDENCIES, FINANCIAL AND PRODUCTION SUPPORT.

PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES

RABAT: HTTPS://VIMEO.COM/52025273
BRUSSELS: HTTPS://VIMEO.COM/67728995
MARSEILLE: HTTPS://VIMEO.COM/109488938