The legendary “poet” of New York punk rock Patti Smith is coming to the Onassis Foundation Roof on March 14 and 15, to participate in the soundscapes of the contemporary sound art platform Soundwalk Collective, in a two-day event full of images and sounds from contemporary reality.

“Correspondences” is an ever-evolving project resulting from the collaboration between Soundwalk Collective and Smith.

More than 10 years old, Correspondences traverses a variety of different geographies and their physical spaces, revealing sonic traces left behind by poets, filmmakers and revolutionaries, while highlighting the impact of climate change.

The musical pieces to be presented on the Roof Main Stage become thought-provoking audio-visual journeys and range from a collaboration with TBA21-Academy, which explores the devastating impact of seismic airguns and, more generally, human interventions in the oceans, to resilience of nature after the Chernobyl disaster, the decentralized societies envisioned by Piotr Kropotkin and Pasolini’s Last Night wastelands.

“Correspondences,” featuring live films and director’s cuts, is performed by Soundwalk Collective’s Stefan Krasniadski and Simone Merli and Patti Smith. The visuals of the show are signed by the Portuguese cinematographer Pedro Maia.

Soundwalk Collective founder Stefan Krasniadski has explored and recorded the most remote parts of the world in sound in order to awaken a sonic memory within the landscape, bringing to light traces of the past and current stories of the world we live in. The resulting compositions consist of sounds that express our relationship with the world and the environment, the soul of our existence, but also the artist’s creative process.

Krasneadsky brought these recordings, originally composed as distant travel shots, like a soundtrack to an unseen film, to Patti Smith, giving her new landscapes to channel her poetic vision. This ongoing coordination between the artists – which began after a chance meeting during a flight – took shape through their responses, as the title of the project implies: ongoing conversations to reflect on life and nature.

Soundwalk Collective is the contemporary sound art platform of its founder and artist Stefan Krasneadski and producer Simone Merli. Working with a rotating constellation of artists and musicians, they develop sound works for specific places and contexts, through which they explore conceptual, literary or artistic themes. Evolving through an interdisciplinary approach, Soundwalk Collective has cultivated long-standing creative collaborations with, among others, musician Patti Smith, the late director Jean-Luc Godard, photographer Nan Goldin, choreographer Sasha Waltz, and actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg. . Soundwalk Collective has performed live and exhibited at a wide range of artistic and musical institutions around the world, such as Berghain, Center Pompidou, CTM Festival, documenta, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi Dubai, Manifesta, Zaha Hadid’s Mobile Art Pavilion and the New Museum.

Patti Smith was born in Chicago, grew up in southern New Jersey, and moved to New York in 1967. Her rich accomplishments as a performer, writer, recording artist, and visual artist are globally recognized.

Patti Smith currently writes and performs live, and supports human rights and environmental groups, most notably Pathway to Paris, a non-profit organization co-founded by her daughter, Jesse Paris Smith, providing tangible solutions to the fight against climate change. . In May 2020 she was awarded the PEN Literary Service Award and named an honorary doctorate by Columbia University. On May 21, 2022, she was awarded the distinction of the French Legion of Honor for her entire work.

This is not her first collaboration with the Onassis Foundation. She has previously participated in the Onassis Festival 2019: Democracy Is Coming in New York in co-production with the Public Theater of New York. On April 13, 2019, he “joined” Stewart Copeland of the legendary Police, Choir! Choir! Choir! and the audience that formed a lively chorus. Together they performed a stirring rendition of ‘People Have the Power’, the symbol song of democracy, in a lively, loud, massive sing-along.