Start
7 May 2025 @ 4:00:pm
Finish
7 May 2025 @ 8:00:pm
Location
Pfingstrosenwiese, Forstbotanischer Garten, Rodenkirchen, Cologne
Event Link
Event Details
Join EcoLit's first public event, The Sound of Trees: A Symphony of Mindfulness, with biologist and musician Tarun Nayar, aka Modern Biology, along with resident artists from the South Asian diaspora: Senthuran (flute), Moonlit Brooks (poetry) and Zainab Lax (harp).
In collaboration with Cologne's Forest Botanical Garden and urban mushroom farm, Pilzling, an opportunity for collective experience and connection through place-based storytelling, music and poetry.
Tarun Nayar (a.k.a. Modern Biology), Senthuran (Flute), Moonlit Brooks (Poetry), Zainab Lax (Harp)
What to expect:
EcoLit is an interdisciplinary research and development project at the University of Cologne. It explores the potential of arts education to address ecological crises by incorporating artistic perspectives into awareness and understanding of socio-ecological contexts.
Participating research institutions are the Institute for European Ethnomusicology, the Department of English II, and the research hub for Multidisciplinary Environmental Studies in the Humanities (MESH) at the University of Cologne. The project considers itself a component of the UoC’s Sustainability Strategy and collaborator with the research initiative Sharing a Planet in Peril and is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (from 1/2024 to 12/2026).
About the artists
Modern Biology:
Modern Biology has made “plant music” famous. Originally a biology graduate, musician and sound artist Tarun Nayar now combines his passion for nature and sound in an ambient music project that is organismic, immediate, enriching and deeply contextual. He uses modular synthesis, self-built synthesizers and other analog equipment to improvise with the natural vibration of specific places and times - via plant bioelectricity, latent electromagnetic radiation and even the echoing hum of the earth. Trained in classical music since his childhood in India, he uses the system of Indian raga to adapt his musical choices to the time of day and season. His performances are characterized by a desire to bring the listener into the present moment through vibration, space and connection.
Modern Biology's videos have been viewed over 100 million times and have earned him over a million online followers. His projects have also been featured in The Guardian, LA Times, BBC, Genius, Vice, The Verge, DJ Mag and more. His latest albums have been supported by Spotify's Music for Plants, Deep Listening and the Lava Lamp Playlist. He has also recently performed live at Art Basel (Miami), MOCA (Los Angeles), New York Botanical Garden and the Vancouver Art Gallery, among others. Tarun's current “Field Trips” project is an attempt to reconnect listeners with the natural environment, especially in urban settings.
Zainab Lax:
Zainab Lax is a harpist and music therapist. Growing up in a family of musicians, Zainab was inspired by the rich melodic and rhythmic traditions of the East and brings them into contemporary sound art. Using loops and electronic effects, she creates multi-layered, atmospheric performances that take the listener on a journey through space and time.
Her music combines the old with the new and mixes traditional melodies with modern, urban sounds. Zainab's style is personal and creative, shaped by her diverse background. She performs all over the world in various formations, always with the aim of connecting cultures and rethinking music.
Senthuran:
Senthuran is a musician with Tamil roots whose universe of sound is deeply rooted in meditation and spiritual practice. With a sensitive combination of guitar, vocals and the bansuri - a traditional Indian bamboo flute - he creates atmospheric compositions that invite you to pause and listen. His music transcends cultural boundaries and enables a silent dialog between body, mind and soul.
Moonlit Brooks:
Moonlit Brooks, also known as Tanya Gautam, is a Cologne-based spoken word artist from Surat, India, whose works explore the beauty and brutality of life, belonging and passing.
The event is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the research and development project (Eco-critical Literacy in music and literature-related practices of cultural education).
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