Slavic Soundwalking
Slavic Soundwalking (SSW) aims to contribute to the transnational circulation of literature and foster transcultural dialogue through literary creativity in Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia, whose languages belong to the same group of South Slavic languages. The project emerged from the need to build good neighborly relations using language in an innovative and creative way, through the digitalization of literature and sound design.
Project Name: Slavic Soundwalking
Abbreviation: SSW
Project Duration: February 1, 2023 – January 31, 2025
Project Coordinator: Cultural Informatics Center – KIC (CRO)
Partners: Heartefact Fund (RS), YELO – for interdisciplinary artistic processes (CRO), Cultural Center Danilo KiÅ¡ (SLO)
Slavic Soundwalking (SSW) aims to contribute to the transnational circulation of literature and foster transcultural dialogue through literary creativity in Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia, whose languages belong to the same group of South Slavic languages. The project emerged from the need to build good neighborly relations using language in an innovative and creative way, through the digitalization of literature and sound design. This makes content accessible to a wide audience, including people with disabilities, the elderly, etc.
The project provides an opportunity for artists and cultural workers to acquire new skills, build good neighborly relations, present and expand their work beyond national borders, and gain recognition among a broader audience interested in cultural and artistic values as well as new technologies. Throughout the two-year project, a series of different activities will be organized, involving collaboration among all partner organizations: a call for short story authors in all partner countries, the selection of 25 unpublished stories in each country (75 stories in total), translation and recording of selected stories in all project languages (Croatian, Slovenian, Serbian, English, and sign language), sound design with the participation of several composers from partner countries, mapping of capital cities in partner countries (geolocation creation), and the creation and launch of a mobile application for city tours with story listening. The result of the project is an interactive mobile application containing 75 short audio stories in all 5 partner languages (including sign language) and allowing interactive tours of Belgrade, Ljubljana, and Zagreb. Project promotion is carried out through various activities, with a focus on five-day workshops, lectures, and a conference during the application launch in public in all partner countries, as well as through organized “sound” walks. The resulting application is sustainable; it continues to exist in digital form even after the project’s completion and is available for long-term use by both the local population and tourists who, through the project, gain content for exploring capital cities from a different perspective. In the long term, the project influences the construction and preservation of the sound archive of Slovenian languages for future generations.
