Mini Sound Map brings together five UNESCO creative cities around illustration and sound

Mini Sound Map, a collaborative project of sound and illustration created by Circuito, Braga Media Arts educational program, opened doors to other creative cities of UNESCO for Media Arts, through cooperation between students from Braga and abroad. Braga (Portugal), Cali (Colombia), Austin (United States of America), Campina Grande (Brazil), and Changsha (China) were the cities that collaborated on this project dedicated to the school community.

Starting from sound references, the Mini Sound Map proposes the creation of a visual and sound map using illustration and sound recording. Since 2018, Circuito has taken the Mini Sound Map to schools in Braga. Still, this year the project was extended to four UNESCO Media Arts creative cities, challenging students and teachers to dialogue between sound and image. Throughout several online creative sessions, the students exchanged sounds and illustrations about their culture, city spaces, and heritage. The sessions of this project were guided by Portuguese artists Marta Pombeiro and Inês Malheiro.

Braga and Cali collaboration brought together students from Escola Artística Conservatório de Música Calouste Gulbenkian of Braga and Institución Educativa INEM Jorge Isaacs from Santiago de Cali and Escola 2/3 André Soares with Colegio Comfandi Miraflores. Another class from Escola 2/3, André Soares worked with Austin’s St. Elmo Elementary School. Escola de Real, from Campina Grande, created maps with students from Escola Municipal Padre Antonino, Braga. The last collaboration was between Braga’s Carlos Amarante High School and Changsha’s Changjun Bilingual Experimental Middle School.

The 10 collaborative maps developed can be seen at www.minimapasonoro.com.