When Women Were Birds

“Birds, birds, behold them ready for flight – like daughters of the spirit. On the white page with infinite margins, the time they measure is all incantation” (St. John Perse).

The voicing fluctuations of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation are the fingerprints of creation, tiny initial irregularities in the otherwise smooth and uniform early universe that later grew into birdlike galaxies, stars, and all the structures we see around us. These primal vibrations enter the voices of birds and women and oscillate with them in consistency with the laws of resonance. This confirms the proposal that the universe has no boundaries or edges in the imaginary time direction.

Two women meet on opposite edges of acoustic space and life processes sharing primary echoes, texts, and vibrational windings.

Body. Voice. Text. Live recordings and samplers based in detailed exploration of the containers of body with voice. The voice moves through live acoustics and processes of electronic and digital processing reflecting dimensions of human metamorphosis through the magical.

Inspired by the book of the same name by Terry Tempest Williams. The text is based on texts by David Toop , Terry Tempest Williams and Rachel Carson.

About the artists: 

For 25 years, Ruth Wieder Magan has been creating vocal music and theater that redefines innovative uses for the voice. She developed unique techniques for working with sound in the context of language and the body, and for using sound as sculpture in the body’s inner and external spaces. In recent years, Wieder Magan has been exploring shamanism and the use of trance states on stage. She was invited twice to perform before H.H. the Dalai Lama and performed at music and theater festivals in India, Korea, Russia, Thailand, UK, US and more. She released two both critically acclaimed albums: “Songs to the Invisible God” (in the American label Sounds True) and “Kadayil Shabbaso”, which she recorded with musician Mark Eliyahu. Her film “Mirror Sky”, directed by Sarah Segal, has garnered outstanding responses, including an honorary mention at the New York IO Film Festival and Best Independent Film at the Macedonia Art Film Festival. 

Or Mai is a student in Musrara New Music Department, who performs and creates under the name “Tefer.” Mai explores the intersection of sound techniques and electronics, and the chaos that may emerge between them. She is also a part of the artistic direction team of the Musrara Mix.