Aliaskar Abarkas
The Community Whistling Choir (2023)
Live Event (Off-site)
Facilitated by Aliaskar Abarkas, The Community Whistling Choir is a collaborative project that aims to create an immersive experience of togetherness, sonic sensation and solidarity through the humble act of whistling.
This edition of the project builds on a partnership between the artist and Cliftonville Cultural Space, engaging the diverse communities of Margate during Refugee Week. In the run up to the final public event, the Choir welcomed individuals to attend weekly rehearsals. In addition, participants were encouraged to document the process through footage and sound recordings which contribute to a compelling sonic documentary film.
At the public event, audiences are invited to participate and engage in spontaneous improvisation with the Choir, fostering a sense of unity and shared artistic expression.
View the trailer for The Community Whistling Choir here.
Listen to their full performance at the Barbican Centre (London) here.
Aliaskar Abarkas is a London-based artist and writer. Committed to alternative and communal art education, he employs a choreographic and sonic approach to facilitate the dynamic interplay between individuals, guiding a transition from isolated experiences to collective expressions. Through strategic engagement with institutional infrastructures, he proposes and tests methodologies that reimagine open contexts within which his practice evolves and circulates, resulting in contingent shifts in the dimensions of ideas and material forms. In the project “All The Whistlers,” Aliaskar collaborates with diverse creative networks and participants, documenting the process leading to musical compositions, visuals, and performances.