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Electromagnetic Fields symposium: a global connection on the radio

Two persons playing an instrument
  • Written byCreative Research in Sound Arts Practice (CRiSAP)
  • Published date 14 September 2026
Two persons playing an instrument
Kathy Hinde and Lia Mazzari compose in real time at the Electromagnetic Fields symposium | Photograph: keith de mendonca

How can electromagnetic listening bring sound art, environmental research and scientific sensing closer?

On 9 June 2026, CRiSAP held Electromagnetic Fields: Artistic Research and Radio Waves. Artist-researchers Hannah Kemp-Welch, Lia Mazzari and Anna Clock curated the symposium. The event brought artists and researchers together to explore the electromagnetic spectrum.

More than a symposium, Electromagnetic Fields created a global space for long-form listening, collaboration and knowledge-making that extended beyond audible sound and across disciplines, times and geographies.

— Mark Peter Wright, CRiSAP Director
Sunny day with a radio studio in the backgrounds
Electromagnetic Fields: Artistic Research and Radio Waves | Photograph: Mark Peter Wright

Listening around the globe

The artist cooperative Soundcamp hosted the symposium from their Loughborough Junction studio in London. It was broadcast live for eight hours on FM and online, reaching registered attendees across 237 cities and 46 countries. To the studio, visitors brought their own radios, tuning in together under the London sky.

As a co-organiser, I was excited to see how many people signed up for the symposium. Engaging with the electromagnetic spectrum through an art lens is a relatively niche interest, and it was wonderful to see how differently artists and researchers approached the topic, as well as how many people tuned in and stayed engaged throughout the event.

— Hannah Kemp-Welch, symposium co-curator and CRiSAP PhD researcher
Radios and cables
Listening to the Electromagnetic Fields symposium at Soundcamp studio in London | Photograph: Mark Peter Wright

Symposium topics

The symposium included talks, discussions, listening sessions and live performances.

The afternoon opened with the curators Hannah Kemp-Welch, Anna Clock and Lia Mazzari. Their discussion explored natural radio, space listening and environmental streaming.

  • Natural radio and the Sounds of Space. Recordings from Antarctica by Nigel Meredith and from Alberta by Stephen P. McGreevy.
  • Field listening. Artist talks by Sébastien Robert and Rob Stammes on radio waves and the Northern Lights, and by Anna Friz on radiophonic listening.
  • Electrical Walks. Listening session of works by Christina Kubisch on electromagnetic recordings and electrical waves.
  • Audible infrastructures. Talks by Angus Carlyle on electrical activity in North Norway/Sápmi, by Emiddio Vasquez on military infrastructures in Cyprus, and by Claire Williams on invisible energies.

As night fell, the broadcast turned to hidden urban noise and the limits of the spectrum.

  • Urban Electromagnetic Landscapes. A listening session by KMRU that uncovered hidden urban noise.
  • Electromagnetic Commons. An artist talk by Celeste Oram and Shortwave Collective on alternative uses of the radio spectrum.

The symposium ended with live sound experiments bringing technology and nature together.

  • Electromagnetic multispecies listening. Soundcamp transmitted bat echolocation live.
  • Out of Time. Kathy Hinde and Lia Mazzari performed with electromagnetic, aquatic and atmospheric signals.
Radio against a blue skye
Listening to the Electromagnetic Fields symposium at Soundcamp studio in London | Photograph: Mark Peter Wright
I am newish and totally smitten. I am a student of Deep Listening and ecological listening, desiring to deepen into this field and share it with others.

— Symposium participant

Organisers

CRiSAP PhD student Hannah Kemp-Welch (LCC) and sound artists and researchers Lia Mazzari and Anna Clock curated the event.

London College of Communication (LCC) Research and Soundcamp supported the symposium. Over 500 attendees registered from 237 cities across the UK and 45 other countries. It was a gathering across disciplines, frequencies, and both virtual and physical spaces.

To attend future events like this with CRiSAP, sign up to the mailing list. You can also explore CRiSAP’s research archive of over 500 sound arts projects. Watch past CRiSAP research events on Vimeo. Or find out more about PhD and Postgraduate study with CRiSAP.

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