Binaural/Nodar is a Portuguese non-profit Cultural Organization founded in 2004 with the aim of promoting the exploration and research in sound and new media arts, focusing on the crossing of media and languages and on the articulation between the artistic production and the surrounding context, particularly through its activities in the rural areas of Nodar and the Gralheira Mountain Range (São Pedro do Sul municipality, centre of Portugal).
Departing from the idea that art and contemporary artists reveal a lighthearted indifference towards the world, Binaural had traced the challenge to create art closed to life, so they’re perfectly integrated with the rural community of Nodar while organizing and producing artistic projects from both local and international artists, followed by public presentations in the region.
They’ve been collecting sounds within the region (a simultaneous process of creation, documentation and reflection) and promoting art residencies where artists exchange with the local community. This work is recognized as being a motive for a visible and growing sense of individual and collective self-esteem within the local communities. And this happens due to the simple fact that the local inhabitants see their daily routines, memories, opinions and life experiences having importance to the resident artists, and in some cases they even hear/see their own voices/images being part of the final art pieces.
Since March 2006, over 100 international contemporary artists developed projects in the region in close connection with the local communities. Issues such as life and death, geography, topography, myths and traditions, crafts, leisure activities, agriculture and shepherding, and consumption habits were used as a thematic background for many of the art pieces created. Exhibitions, concerts, workshops, artist talks, have been organized in the region with growing audience and visibility.
Binaural / Nodar has created an aesthetical statement in video, specially for Sounds of Europe: