Dear friends of „Blaues Rauschen“,

Digitalization has developed rapidly in the 21st century and influences almost all areas of life. In art and culture in particular, its importance for production, reception and consumption has grown steadily and it is no longer possible to imagine life without it. In Bochum, there are already forward-looking multimedia event formats such as „DIVE – Festival für Immersive Künste“ or the festival „ wortwortwort – Die Zukunft der Wortkunst“. I am therefore delighted that this year, together with Dortmund, Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Herne, we are once again one of the host cities for the „Blaues Rauschen“ festival.

On a total of eight evenings in five cities, the festival invites you to a multimedia sound journey with an extraordinary experience and insight value, featuring contemporary electronic music, sound and video collages, and futuristic electronic dance music.

What does immediate sound do to different bodies? What is the effect of the sonic beyond universal sounds? Under the heading „beyond universal sounds“, the festival day on June 14th in Bochum will attempt to answer precisely these questions in various formats. The event will be framed by an international lecture performance at the atelier automatique followed by an artist talk on the topic of „situated sound knowledge“ as well as live performances and radio recordings at the Schlegel Kultur Club. Already on April 19, the seminar „Sound Environments“ will start at the Institute for Media Studies of the Ruhr- University Bochum, with reference to and integration of the festival theme of „Blaues Rauschen“.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my special thanks to the organizer open systems e.V., the sponsors and all those who have contributed to the preparation of this festival, which is so important for our region.

I wish the “Blaues Rauschen” and its top-class program much success and a strong response.