Photo: Nancy Jesse

Performance: Klimaton – October 17, 18:00
Workshop: Klimaton by Adnan Softić (DE) – October 18, 15:00–18:00
Venue: Art Academy of Latvia, K2, Riga (Onsite only)

Another thematic perspective comes through collaboration with one of the RIXC’s longstanding partners, the Goethe-Institut Riga, which this year joins with the French Institute in Latvia to present the Resonances of Nature project, supported by the Franco-German Cultural Fund.

German artist Adnan Softić contributes collaborations around his Klimaton Arctic, a musical instrument that transforms scientific data from the MOSAiC Arctic expedition into sound, making the climate crisis tangible through immersive listening. Based in Berlin and Sarajevo, Softić works across art, film, music, and theatre, often with Nina Softić, exploring the intersections of aesthetics, politics, and ecology. 

The platform KLIMATON explores how artistic approaches can enter into dialogue with scientific data archives – particularly when dealing with abstract and complex phenomena such as climate change. At its center is the music instrument KLIMATON ARCTIC – a large-scale, sonified portrait of a disappearing landscape, developed in collaboration with scientists from the MOSAiC Expedition (Alfred Wegener Institute). Acting as a resonance body of the Arctic, it translates datasets into sound. As a hybrid between a sonification device and a musical instrument, it provides a sensorial and playful access to scientific knowledge while serving as a platform for artists to create their own positions.

PERFORMANCE: Klimaton – October 17, 18:00
Venue: Art Academy of Latvia, K2, Riga (Onsite only)

The Klimaton performance will feature Latvian sound artists Normal Babyy and German artist Thies Mynther, who blend electronic music with Arctic soundscapes, each engaging KLIMATON as a partner and subject.

Normal Babyy (Elza Auguste Zīverte & Kristofers Knesis) often aim to give agency to the machine that joins their performance. Never before has the machine’s voice been as informed as with KLIMATON ARCTIC, the generative sound object carrying the resonance of a year in Arctic disappearing terrain. The performance extends Normal Babyy’s ongoing exploration of control, automation, and affective atmospheres, while engaging with the fragile ecologies embedded in the data itself.

Thies Mynther, a transdisciplinary artist and composer from Hamburg, presents a composition that transforms polar datasets into shifting sonic textures. His performance oscillates between electronic music and Arctic soundscapes, tracing the tension between scientific abstraction and sensorial immersion, and culminates in a collaborative piece with Moritz Simon Geist.

WORKSHOP: Klimaton by Adnan Softić (DE) – October 18, 15:00–18:00
Venue: Art Academy of Latvia, K2, Riga (Onsite only)

In addition, Adnan Softić will lead ahands-on workshop, inviting artists to experiment with the instrument and engage creatively with climate change through listening and reflection.

The workshop invites participants to engage creatively with climate change through listening, reflection, and hands-on experimentation. After an introduction to the KLIMATON ARCTIC sound instrument, a contemplative space unfolds where complex aspects of climate science become tangible. Special attention is given to phytoplankton, microscopic organisms that form the basis of the marine food chain and play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle. Participants explore the delicate balance of ocean ecosystems and global climate systems, combining scientific insight with artistic imagination.

Performances

Resonances of Nature: Klimaton performances by Adnan Softić, Nina Softić (DE), Normal Babyy (Elza Auguste Zīverte & Kristofers Knesis) (LV) and Thies Mynther (DE)
Date: Friday, October 17, 18:00
Venue: Art Academy of Latvia, K2, Riga
Registration: via Eventbrite HERE (Onsite only)

Workshops

Resonances of Nature: Klimaton Workshop by Adnan Softić (DE)
Date: October 18, 15:00–18:00
Venue: Art Academy of Latvia, K2, Riga (Onsite only)
Registration: Please fill out the Google form to confirm your participation HERE

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Organizers

RIXC Centre for New Media Culture
Festival Curators: Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits
Producer: Agnese Baranova (agnese@rixc.org)
PR and Information: Līva Siliņa (rixc@rixc.org, +371 25358541)
Symposium coordinator: Daina Siliņa (daina@rixc.org)
Producer assistant: Lelde Gūtmane 

Support and Partners

State Cultural Capital Foundation of Latvia, Riga City Council, Pro Helvetia, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Institute Art Gender Nature, Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW, Goethe-Institut Riga, French Institute in Latvia, Franco-German Cultural Fund, Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture, LG Electronics, Sonic Sensory Lab, Department of Cultural Affairs – Taipei City Government, Zone Sound Creative (Taiwan), REVERIE Trading Group, Kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Art Academy of Latvia, NAIA – Naturally Artificial Intelligence Art Association (Germany), Maajaam (Estonia), Isop (Denmark), SENT (Norway), Lorna (Iceland), Institutio Media (Lithuania), Photinus Studio (Ukraine), SLOLab (Canada)

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Contacts

RIXC Center for New Media Culture / RIXC Gallery / Festival Information Center
Address: Lenču iela 2, Riga, LV-1010, Latvia
E-mail: rixc@rixc.org
www.rixc.org | festival2025.rixc.org
Phones:
+371 29635167 (Agnese Baranova, Festival Producer )
+371 25358541 (Līva Siliņa, PR and information coordinator)
+371 26546776 (office)