Neukölln. Oliwa. Sonic Portrait
Sound Installation by Bea Targosz and Marcin Dymiter
Artists
Bea Targosz, Marcin Dymiter
Schedule
- 8.10–22.10
- Monday: closed
Tickets
Reduced: PLN 20
Students and pupils aged 7–26: PLN 1
Group ticket (min. 10 people, organised groups), per person: PLN 18
7-day ticket: PLN 60 regular / PLN 45 reduced
The ticket entitles the holder to one-time admission to the permanent and temporary exhibitions at each branch of the Museum within seven days of the date of purchase.
Annual pass, transferable: PLN 150
The pass entitles the holder to unlimited admission to the permanent and temporary exhibitions at each branch of the Museum for one year from the date of purchase.
Tuesday: free admission
How many sounds do you hear every day without really listening to them? Do you know what your neighbourhood sounds like? From 8 to 22 October, the Ethnography Department of the National Museum in Gdańsk invites you to experience a project inspired by the soundscapes of Berlin’s Neukölln district and Gdańsk’s Oliwa district.
Neukölln. Oliwa. Sonic Portrait is the Polish presentation of an artistic project that premiered at Errant Sound & Miss Read in Berlin. Its creators, Marcin Dymiter and Bea Targosz, have used field recordings made in Berlin’s Neukölln district and Gdańsk’s Oliwa district.
Their sound installation is a story about locality and the immediate surroundings that become the first context in which we experience the world. It is through what lies outside our window, in the street, in the park or in the courtyard that we begin to discover reality. Listening attentively can make a familiar place suddenly sound different. The artists show that sound is more than just a backdrop. It can tell us a great deal about a place, its inhabitants and the changes taking place within it. It speaks of architecture, movement, the time of day and year, and the presence of people, animals and plants. It creates a soundscape – the sonic environment in which we live.
“Through field recordings and sound walks, we explore a place and its specific character, while also examining issues related to collective memory, as well as building relationships and developing an awareness of place. By making recordings in the Berlin district of Neukölln and Gdańsk’s Oliwa district, we bring the specific character of each place into focus, while also applying a personal filter to the way we understand, experience and listen to the city,” says Marcin Dymiter.
“Another element of the project involves analysing and transforming the field recordings into configurations of tones (pitches, sine waves and beats), as well as sampling the material collected in real time and in randomised sequences to create a kind of sonic map – a response to the sounds of the surrounding environment,” adds Bea Targosz.
The installation will be accompanied by a series of performance-based activities. On Sunday 11 October at 3 pm, Bea Targosz will lead the sound walk Reducing Listening, beginning in Oliwa Park, outside the Department of Ethnography, before heading towards the Tricity Landscape Park. Focusing on the sonic qualities of the sounds emerging around them, participants will reflect on how we experience and listen to the city’s sound environment in our everyday lives. Admission is free.
On Sunday 18 October at 12 noon, Marcin Dymiter will invite visitors to a soundscape set at the Department of Ethnography – a sonic “reading” of the city and its architecture, as well as a response to the idea of live sets performed for entertainment in public spaces. Referring to the cultural concepts of the DJ set and sound system, the soundscape set explores the category of sounds that are “absent” from a given space. Each soundscape set is unique, specially prepared and conceptually connected to its surroundings, architecture and the particular situation. Admission is included in the museum ticket. Places are limited.
The installation is part of the programme of the international symposium Beyond Listening 3: Resounding the Rights of Nature, organised by CENSE and the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre.
Exhibition credits
artists: Bea Targosz, , Marcin Dymiter,
curators: Anna Ratajczak-Krajka, Sławka Bigaj
promotion: Agnieszka Kochanowska, Klaudia Ficak
layout: Janusz Kolton
graphic design: Miłosz Szczęsny
technical suport: Cem Çakmak
registrar’s office: Kalina Krasowska, Marta Wołyńska
director: Piotr Stasiowski
Regular: PLN 20
Reduced: PLN 15
Students and pupils aged 7–26: PLN 1
Family/Friends ticket (3–8 people), per person: PLN 12
Group ticket (min. 10 people, organised groups), per person: PLN 12
7-day ticket: PLN 60 regular / PLN 45 reduced
The ticket entitles the holder to one-time admission to the permanent and temporary exhibitions at each branch of the Museum within seven days of the date of purchase.
Annual pass, transferable: PLN 150
The ticket entitles the holder to unlimited admission to permanent and temporary exhibitions at all branches of the Museum for one year from the date of purchase.
Workshop and museum lesson (up to 30 participants) in Polish: PLN 300 + admission ticket
Workshop and museum lesson (up to 30 participants) in Polish: PLN 250 + admission ticket for pupils presenting a Gdańsk Lion Cubs Academy (Akademia Gdańskich Lwiątek) record book
Guided tour for adults (up to 30 participants) in Polish: PLN 300 + admission ticket
Guided tour for adults (up to 30 participants) in English: PLN 300 + admission ticket
Tuesday: free admission
We would like to inform you that all war refugees and their accompanying persons are entitled to free addmission. All you need to do is to give a verbal declaration.
Concessions and ticket exemptions are available. Reduced-price tickets are offered, among others, to school and university students, holders of the Large Family Card, and people with disabilities and their carers. Free admission is available, among others, to museum professionals, ICOM and AICA members, tourist guides and journalists.
For the full list of concessions and exemptions and the applicable terms, please click here: Discounts and Exemptions and Documents Confirming Eligibility
The Ethnography Department of the National Museum in Gdańsk is housed in the historic Abbots’ Granary (Spichlerz Opacki) at 19 Cystersów Street, in the historic district of Oliwa. The building is located next to Oliwa Park, close to the Abbots’ Palace and Oliwa Cathedral.
On foot
The easiest way to reach the Ethnography Department on foot is through Oliwa Park. From the park entrance on Opata Jacka Rybińskiego Street, the walk takes approximately 5 minutes.
The museum is only a few minutes’ walk from Oliwa Cathedral and approximately 2 minutes from the Abbots’ Palace, home to the Modern Art Department of the National Museum in Gdańsk.
By train – SKM and POLREGIO
The nearest railway station is Gdańsk Oliwa. From the station, the museum is approximately a 10–15-minute walk. Follow Pomorska Street or Opata Jacka Rybińskiego Street towards Oliwa Park.
By tram
The nearest tram stop is Opacka, approximately a 5-minute walk from the museum.
The stop is served by tram lines 2, 4 and 6. From the stop, follow Cystersów Street towards Oliwa Park and the Abbots’ Granary.
By bus
The museum can be conveniently reached by buses stopping at Oliwa, Cystersów and Opacka, all located near Oliwa Park. The museum is approximately a 5–10-minute walk from any of these stops.
By car
Public parking spaces are available near the museum on Cystersów Street and other nearby streets in Oliwa. At weekends, particularly in good weather and during events held in Oliwa Park, parking spaces may be limited. Visitors may therefore wish to consider using public transport.
By bicycle
The Ethnography Department can be reached via convenient cycle routes running through Oliwa and along Grunwaldzka Avenue. Bicycle racks and MEVO bike-sharing stations are available near Oliwa Park.
Good to know
A visit to the Ethnography Department can easily be combined with a walk through Oliwa Park, a visit to Oliwa Cathedral, and a visit to the neighbouring Abbots’ Palace, home to the Modern Art Department of the National Museum in Gdańsk. As the two museum departments are located so close to one another, both can easily be visited on the same day.
- The entrance to the building is on the left, immediately after entering Oliwa Park through the gate from the direction of Oliwa Cathedral.
- The ticket desk is located directly opposite the entrance.
- An induction loop is available at the ticket desk. An online sign language interpreting service is also available.
- A self-service coat rack is available in the building’s public area.
- Door widths and circulation routes within the building partially meet accessibility requirements.
- There is no lift or platform lift in the building.
- For visitors with mobility impairments, only the permanent exhibition “Folk Culture of Pomerania” on the ground floor is accessible. The other floors can only be reached via steep stairs.
- There is no toilet adapted to the needs of people with disabilities in the building.
- A baby changing table is available in the toilet.
- There is no designated self-service play area for children or seating area for visitors.
- The building does not have tactile maps, Braille signage or an audio navigation system for blind visitors.
- Assistance and guide dogs are welcome in the building. No restrictions apply in this regard.
- There are no designated accessible parking spaces on the museum premises. The nearest parking spaces can be found along the wall surrounding Oliwa Cathedral and on nearby streets with designated paid parking spaces.
