SCHOER, HEIN - TWO WEEKS IN THE ALERT BAY (CD)

"I have come to Alert Bay, BC (British Columbia) in the course of my research project "The Sounding Museum", within which I look at (and listen to) the production and presentation of cultural soundscapes. This 42-minute piece tries to draw a picture of the contemporary sonic landscape of the people of Alert Bay, the four movements laid out below representing the sacred number and the four realms of Kwakwaka'wakw mythology. It is composed from recordings made in and around Alert Bay in collaboration with William Wasden jr. and other Native scholars of traditional culture, ritual, and mythology, roughly oriented on the tales about the raven and creator entity U'melth and other West Coast myths. It circles around the inner conflict of modern and traditional life in contemporary Native communities. Two shorter edits, that are on display in quadraphonic surround sound in the Sound Chamber at the North America Native Museum (NONAM) in Zurich, accompany the full version on this CD." (H.Schoer)