A short feature from a longer work by the Spanish composer and sound designer Charo Calvo. Five women artists tell, in their mother tongue, a vital moment, an intense sensorial experience, that left a physical imprint. How can you transmit this experience through language when your words are translated? Qualia questions the impossibility of sharing with others the exact perception of a colour, of the temperature of a hand or the taste of wine.

In this short, we hear a story from Zahava Seewald – a singer and museum curator. Her story dances between Hebrew and a French translation. You can hear the full work here.

This short is the first in a two-part collaboration with Radio Papesse – a webradio and online audio archive devoted to contemporary art. Radio Papesse promotes a critical discourse around the visual arts and supports experimental sound and radiophonic productions by sharing and producing sound related artists’ projects. Qualia was selected to form part of Radio Papesse‘s Süden Radio, an ongoing project on the exploration of sound as a tool for critical thinking. It was also shortlisted for Palma Ars Acustica and the Grand Prix Nova in 2017.

Charo Calvo is a composer, sound designer and Professor of Composition for Media at Mons Conservatory, Brussels. She has composed for festivals, dance performances, theatre, film and radio. She received the Palma Ars Acustica 2014 and was selected for the Prix Europa and Phonurgia Nova with Phonobiographie #1. In 2017 she will be an artist in residence in Berlin selected by DAAD (Berliner Künstlerprogramm) for a year.

First produced for ABC Radio’s Soundproof with Miyuki Jokiranta. Co-produced with ACSR bruxelles and Carmelo Iannuzzo, FACR Wallonie-Bruxelles. Translation and voice Caroline Daish. Director, Editing, Sound Design and Mix – Charo Calvo. Mastering – Bastien Hidalgo Ruiz.