Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu:

Of the five senses, we often associate sight, sound and smell to memories. And sound makes such a difference. The absence of zooming of cars on a Saturday lets the lull of the holiday feeling seep in. On a Friday, Tada Masami consciously brought alive the sounds he had gathered during his stay in Nepal at ‘Sound Encounter’. In a journal that he kept during his stay in Patan, Masami writes, “A mosquito wakes me in the early morning. Though the light of dawn is still dim, the sound of birds rises from below, from near and far. I marvel at the variety of their songs, each bird with a sound of its own. The closest sounds are the human sounds — of a door opening, of footsteps, of conversation, of daily life.”

On July 2, Masami played a gadget with visual accompaniment on a double display projection screen in the background, the emotions in the audience ran amok. With the distortions of his visuals, Masami directed the essence of sound in nature. The installation came alive with Masami playing the pivotal role. On the floor of Nepal Art Council, he rolled little bamboo sticks producing music like an organ, whipping lean bamboo sticks through the air, their leanness cutting space that screamed. Slowly gathering the circle of bamboo sticks, Masami wore them and danced at random, the clacking wood chiming in time. He banged an iron on a rock, let a circle of metal rim fall to the floor before he himself fell to the ground. He was bringing alive the audio elements that made up Nepal. “This sound cannot be produced anywhere else,” he said, “It is special because it is from here. Explore and meet challenges.”