Triggered by iconic Norwegian author Jens Bjørneboe’s colonial histories, composer and performer Guro Skumsnes Moe has set out to find space to dwell on the cavernous silences that history has created. The history of Western Europe, dominated by patriarchal extractivism, colonialism and capitalism is written in the most part by the hands of the men who have destroyed feminine structures, indigenous voices, and natural resources. Yet these histories are today’s shared histories. Through this work, the third in a trilogy of pieces, the concert installation strives to dwell on the discomfort of looking at history, as a catalyst to ask ourself how to move forward. The Resonant Silence of the title, is not a specific voice, or a silence that the piece is trying to resolve or answer. But as Orwell writes in 1984; “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” it is only by honestly recognising this silence that is written into the past, that we can release the potential to create new futures, and stop repeating the abuses of those who have gone before us, and that continue today..

Resonant Silence is the result of a 3 year long process, and is devised in creative collaboration and dialogue with conductor and violinist Halldis Rønning, choreographer and dancer Astrid Groseth and set designer Elisabeth Holager Lund. Together with a 9 piece ensemble of improvisers, classical musicians, instrument builders and noise artists hailing from Norway, USA/Venezuela, Mexico, Finland and Singapore, they have created a site specific concert installation for the now empty grain silos and basement of the Bergen School of Architecture. The building’s unique acoustics and resonance create room for both large sounds, but also a deafening silence. The presence and movement of the performers and the audience is the foundation of the communication creating a unique sonic space for reflection and action.