“Echotopie” — an audiovisual performance by the Polish-Italian collective The Consonants

“Echotopie” is a project that invites the inhabitants of Lower Silesia to co-create audiovisual stories about places they know, pass by and with which they feel connected.

The Polish-Italian collective The Consonants, composed of Małgorzata Dancewicz, Krzysztof Pawlik, Sandro Mungianu and Roberto Zanata, travelled around the region to rediscover, together with local communities, the characteristic historic buildings: the Castle in Leśnica and the Park Complex and Palm House in Legnica. In the course of organized workshops and sound walks, the artists, together with the residents, collected audiovisual materials in each of these locations, which became the basis for the realization of the performances. The workshop participants learned the stories of the places they visited, their former functions and changing aesthetics, and helped the artists collect recordings, memories and local stories.

The starting point of the forestry performance are memories, stories and sounds related to the Forest Castle, told by people and listened to the voice of plants.

The Consonants are composed by Małgorzata Dancewicz, Krzysztof Pawlik, Sandro Mungianu and Roberto Zanata Małgorzata Dancewicz, performer, VJ, researcher of new media art and assistant professor at the Institute of Cultural Studies of the University of Wrocław. Author of the monograph Performance postmedialny. Contemporary technological context of performative activities (2019). She creates experimental audiovisual performances (www.inire.net) and curates performance projects, including the Festival of Audiovisual Forms INTERMEDIALE.

Krzysztof Pawlik (artist's website)

Composer, video artist and audiovisual artist. Author of music for numerous theatrical performances and video production, long-time director of audiovisual forms of the Modrzejewska Theater in Legnica (1997—2019). Originator and artistic director of the Festival of Audiovisual Forms INTERMEDIALE. He creates electronic music, performances and audiovisual installations using modular systems, field recordings and documentation techniques.

Sandro Mungianu (artist's website)

He works in the field of contemporary music, sound design and multimedia art. He studied piano, clarinet and saxophone, and obtained diplomas in electronic music in Italy and in composition and music theory in Switzerland. During his acoustic research, he built and developed various robotic instruments, combining traditional instruments with electronics. His music has been performed at national and international competitions, including Unique Forms Of Continuity in Space in Adelaide, Biennale in Venice and Ars Electronica in Linz. He taught electroacoustics at the Conservatory of Perugia and Como, and is currently a lecturer at the Multimedia Department of the Conservatory of Cagliari.

Roberto Zanata (artist's website)

Philosopher, composer, instrumentalist and musicologist. He graduated in classical composition and electronic music composition. In the mid-1990s he became particularly active in concert in Italy and abroad. He writes chamber, theater, computer, electroacoustic and acoustic music. He is also engaged in video creation. His compositions and visual projects have been presented at the most important reviews of recent art, among others in France, Germany, Mexico and Poland. He is a professor of electronic composition at the Conservatory of Cesena.

Main organizer: Association for Support of Artistic and Cultural Initiatives Netcetera Co-organizer: OPT Zamek Media partner: Gazeta Leśnicka, Gazeta Piastowska

Co-financed from the funds of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage under the program of the National Centre of Culture SYNERGIE. Edition 2026

Photo: Promotional materials OPT Zamek