What is an instrument
Workshop with Agnes Ponizil and Hartmut Dorschner
28 July - 1 August 2025 | Kunsthaus Bärenstein
Daily from 9am-12pm & 5pm-2pm | Final concert on 1 August 7pm

This workshop focuses on the fundamental question: What is an instrument? Together with the composer Agnes Ponizil and the composer Hartmut Dorschner, we will embark on a sonic journey of discovery that will take us deep into the cultural and geological layers of the Erzgebirge

This ancient cultural landscape, shaped by centuries of ore mining, is considered by many creative people to be a space of artistic identification. We will create sounds that are closely connected to this special place - inspired by its history, its materials, its sounds and its people.

In the intensive interplay of practice, reflection and composition, new perspectives on what can be understood as an "instrument" will emerge - far removed from traditional ideas.

The workshop is aimed at musicians, sound artists and anyone with an open ear for experimental approaches and interdisciplinary sound research. A recording studio is available. Simple overnight stays can be arranged.

Final concert:
On 1 August at 7 pm, the workshop participants will present their sonic explorations in a public concert at Kunsthaus Bärenstein.

Registration for free participation in the workshops is possible until 26 July 2025 by email:

buero@kunst-kultur-sachsen.de

Overnight accommodation is possible on request for workshops lasting several days. A limited number of microphones, recording devices, headphones etc. are available for the workshops; participants are welcome to bring their own devices (a smartphone is already suitable for most applications).

The SONAR project is supported by friends of DresdenContempoaryArt e. V. / Netzwerk Medien Kunst, Medienkultur.V / Netzwerk Medien Kunst, Medienkulturzentrum Dresden, the city of Bad Schandau, the Kulturstiftung des Freistaats Sachsen, the Kulturraum Meißen-Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, Musiksommer Bärenstein, Toskana Therme Bad Schandau and the C.Rockefeller Center for the contemporary arts.