The Humboldt Forum in Berlin opened to the public in 2021. The inaugural edition of the immersive listening space at the Ethnological Museum included Marc Sinan's spatial audio piece Oksus. MNTN provided the flexibility to smoothly translate the spatial mix onto the hybrid 3D audio system of the listening space, equipped with two spatial audio technologies, ambisonics and wave field synthesis.

For thousands of years, the region along the Amu Darya river, historically also known as Oxus, has produced cultural treasures that radiate from China to Western Europe. Today, the once-raging river has almost dried up and has become a symbol of man's exploitation of natural resources. But not only are many ecosystems of Central Asia threatened; traditional culture is also disappearing at breakneck speed.

Marc Sinan has undertaken an extensive journey through Uzbekistan and, together with Markus Rindt, has recorded musicians who keep alive centuries-old musical traditions that have always been cosmopolitan. He presents the results of his research in the form of a chamber music suite for guitar, clarinet, harpsichord, and percussion, which enter into dialogue with the video installation.

Client: Marc Sinan
Location: Ethnological Museum, Humboldt Forum Berlin
Spatial audio content production: TAUCHER