Jana Winderen

"Meet the Locals: Underwater" for Bergen Assembly 2025, will be a mobile sonic experience that immerses audiences in the hidden soundscapes of the sea. Using a custom sound system integrated into and out of her van,—comprising 8 speakers and two subwoofers installed in a 20 meter diameter circle around the audience—she will amplify live hydrophone transmissions from various local sites, blending them with pre-recorded underwater soundscapes from coastal and deep sea locations.

The project unfolds as a touring series of site-specific happenings across Bergen center and the Hardanger fjord, incorporating public sound interventions, performances in art venues by the sea, and talks with marine scientists and local people.

"Meet the Locals: Underwater" builds on previous projects and processes connected to Vestland, Jana worked with almost 20 years ago in the same localities.

Background

Jana's installation "+4°C - From the Folgefonna Glacier to the North Sea", 2007, followed the sound of Folgefonna glacier from the surface, through crevasses and 25 meters into the blue ice below. She followed the melt water down through valleys towards Rosendal and into the Hardanger Fjord out to Bømlo and the North Sea. The outer area of Hardangerfjord was (and still is) one of the most active rich sounding underwater environment she had ever heard . Years later, in 2020 scientists mapped this same area, discovering an ancient coldwater coral reef which they named Tråvassrevet.

Jana will return to these sites Bømlafjorden to listen again, arround Tråvassrevet, after almost 20 years.

This project continues also the explorations Winderen undertook as part of the cross-course program for Bergen Assembly and BAS in 2024, titled Hold Your Breath and Listen, where she investigated underwater soundscapes in relation to architecture, human intervention, and marine ecologies, developing methods of deep listening that inform her current work. The insights gained from that week—both in terms of recording methodologies and conceptual approaches—will be further expanded in "Meet the Locals: Underwater", creating a continuity of inquiry across both editions of Bergen Assembly.

Touring Performance

Winderen’s practice has seen shifts in modes of engagement with the audience, with large gallery shows and cleanly produced installations. The project she will bring to Bergen Assembly will engage with the viewer in a playful, spontaneous way that is open to chance encounters. Performing in public spaces, out the back of her van will bring the work to new audiences. Venues such as costal localities in the Hardangerfjord, and in Bergen.

The project will begin summer 2025 with Jana re-visiting recording locations close to Tråvassrevet where she recorded in 2007 to capture the sounds of marine organisms and human-induced sounds like industrial activities, shipping lanes and ferries. She will make a new collection of recordings and use these as raw materials for this series of live performances.

For each performance, in the autumn of 2025, these underwater recordings will be combined with live, real time sounds found by placing hydrophones in the water next to where she is performing. Her performances will therefore take place in public spaces beside the water with her equipment directly linking her live performance with the sea, making it visibly clear to the public that they are hearing the real sounds as they happen

By emphasizing deep listening as a way to engage with non-human life, Winderen invites audiences to attune themselves to the rich and delicate acoustic worlds beneath the surface. The work bridges art, science, and community engagement, revealing hidden marine ecosystems and the human impact on underwater environments.

She wants particularly to emphasis the importance of the coral reefs all along the Norwegian coast through the rich soundscapes they have: a sign of their large biodiversity and importance for the ecosystems underwater.

Meet the Locals: Underwater is supported by Norway Arts Council and the Tono stipend