RECENT ACTIVITIES
CONFERENCE
Our international conference Exploring Sonic Cultural Heritage was a great success!
We were proud to present an outstanding line-up of researchers, and we experienced how the meeting of different disciplines contributed to a nuanced understanding of what “sonic cultural heritage” entails, the possibilities within the field, and the challenges it faces.
Invited speakers:
Mariana López: Professor in Sound Production and Post-Production, University of York
Heikki Uimonen: Research Director & Docent, University of Eastern Finland
Meri Kytö: Lecturer, University of Turku & Associate Professor, University of Eastern Finland
Carsten Seiffarth: Independent curator and producer of sound installation art: soundforum — bonn hoeren, singuhr — projects berlin, etc.
Alcina Cortez: Curator and Researcher, NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities
James Mansell: Professor of Cultural History and Sound Studies, University of Nottingham & Science Museum Group UK
Jakob Ingemann Parby: Senior Researcher and Curator, Museum of Copenhagen
Soon, you will be able to read Centre Director Jacob Kreutzfeldt’s report from the conference on our website.
Jacob Kreutzfeldt opening the international conference: Exploring Sonic Cultural Heritage
Mariana López, Meri Kytö and Heikki Uimonen in a paneldiscission
THE TOWN DRUM
In our previous newsletter, we introduced our project on town drums. Since then, we have examined and listened to Struer Museum’s own town drum—one of the museum’s oldest objects, which has not sounded in the streets of the town for nearly 100 years.
Our work was guided by the question: How can sonic cultural heritage be understood when the sound itself has disappeared? By “unboxing” the drum—feeling its brittle skin and worn materials—we explored the paradox of an instrument that can no longer be played.
The drum and the so-called “drum-man” once functioned as Struer’s local news media. The drum was used as an alarm in the event of fire, to announce tax collections, and to communicate local news. It created a sense of security, authority, and community within the town. Today, the drum is in such a fragile condition that it cannot be played. Yet this does not mean that sound can no longer be produced.
With great care and museological sensitivity, we have directed our most sensitive microphones toward the drum, coaxing out sounds that may reconnect us with some of the emotions and social bonds it once activatedwhen its sound echoed through the streets of Struer. We also ask whether the sound of ageing materials might hold value in its own right.
You can learn more about our work with the town drum through some of our presentations this autumn—and, hopefully, in a future publication.
The town drum at Struer Museum
NETWORK APPLICATION TO THE DANISH INDEPENDENT RESEARCH FUND
Together with Associate Professor Morten Breinbjerg from Aarhus University, SOKU has applied for funding from the Danish Independent Research Fund (DFF) to establish an “exploratory network” on sonic culturalheritage.
As stated in the project description, the network aims to “explore the epistemology of sonic heritage and create a forum for exchanges between sound studies, curatorial theory and practice, historical research, archivestudies, museology, and related disciplines, in order to move and radically transform the national and international discourse on the subject.”
If funded, the network would provide crucial support for our work from 2026–2028. The DFF supports research, and the core of a potential DFF-funded network would consist of researchers from Aarhus University, the University of Copenhagen, Lund University, Aalborg University, Roskilde University, UC Syd, The Royal Danish Library, The National Museum of Denmark, The Museum of Copenhagen, and Struer Museum.
At the same time, we will continue to work in an open and inclusive manner, ensuring a cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach — an approach that already characterizes the composition of our currentnetwork.
PRESENTATIONS IN DENMARK AND ABROAD
22 August: Jacob Kreutzfeldt and Curator Anne-Sofie Udsen participated in the panel debate “Democracy Begins with Listening” at Kulturmødet Mors. They explored listening and democratic formation together with:
- Dorte Palle Jørgensen, Founder of Nordic Podcast Academy
- Isa Paludan Asboe, Project Manager, Lydlaboratoriet
- Jacob Eriksen, Director of Sound Art Lab
- Peter Petersen, CEO of Sound Hub Denmark
4 September: Jacob Kreutzfeldt took part in a conversation at the Museum of Copenhagen on “Sound as Cultural Heritage” with Senior Researcher and Curator Jakob Ingemann Parby. The discussion addressed key soniclandmarks in Danish history and questions such as:
How do we research the sound history of the past?
And what does it take to collect and preserve sound for future generations?
22 September: Curator Mikkel Ellersgaard Sørensen from Struer Museum participated in the annual late-summer seminar of the Centre for Cultural Heritage Studies at Aalborg University. He presented the research project on Struer’s historic town drum and the museum’s work in identifying objects that can be classified as sonic cultural heritage.
“Democracy Begins with Listening,” panel debate, Kulturmødet Mors 2025
UPCOMING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SOKU
PRESENTATIONS IN DENMARK AND ABROAD
17–19 October: “Dumb Artefacts and Loud Occurrences: Sonic Cultural Heritage in Danish Museum Collections” — Jacob Kreutzfeldt and Mads Kullberg will present a paper at the conference Sound in Museums.
27 October: “Communicating the Cultural History of Sound” — Jacob Kreutzfeldt will give a presentation at MID’s theme day on Sound and the Senses in Interpretation, Struer Museum.
7 November: Jacob Kreutzfeldt in conversation with montage producer Rikke Houd on “The Montage as Literature”, Stege Bio, 7:00–9:00 PM.
24–25 November: "Sound and Cultural Heritage: How Do We Approach the Sound of History?" — Jacob Kreutzfeldt and Curator Mads Kullberg at the Museums’ Professional Orientation Meeting, Conservators’ Group, Kolding, November 24, 3:40–4:05 PM.
SOKU’S 2ND NETWORK SEMINAR 2026
13 April: REMEMBER that SOKU’s next network seminar will take place on April 13, 2026, at Struer Museum. More information to follow!
IMPORTANT EXHIBITIONS AND INITIATIVES
- Sound in Museums, conference in Mafra, Portugal, October 17–19, 2025.
- Hypogeum: As part of the Copenhagen Architecture Biennial, sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard presents an installation allowing audiences to listen to Copenhagen’s sewer system. The installation is open until October19.
Please let us know if you are aware of an initiative that should be included in this list in the next newsletter. Write to us at [email protected].
