60 dB / 16 kHz. BCN. Can you hear the violence? is a collective documentary exhibition that aims to reflect on certain forms of non-explicit violence that take place in a city like Barcelona. The materials in the exhibition are the result of varied artistic and anthropological research, as well as the experiences of different activist organizations.

The elements in the exhibition all have in common that they point out forms of forceful imposition that tend to go unnoticed as violence because they are diluted into our everyday lives, and they end up being mixed into what we call “normalcy”.

The guiding theme that ties the different parts of the exhibit together is acoustic: a constant, nearly inaudible, drone that accompanies the visitors through the exhibition. As people move through the space, they are invited to stop and listen to the sounds they hear regularly on any given day, and they are made to realize the extent to which those sounds are indicators forms of violence. At the end of the exhibition, the ambient noise becomes a din: characteristic of a society where violence is normal.

60 dB / 16 kHz. 60 decibels is the level of sound that corresponds to the usual agglomeration of people on the street: the noise of the city. 16 kilohertz corresponds to a high-pitched, inaudible frequency. The subtitle of the exhibition in Catalan – Sents la violència? – plays with the different meanings of the verb “sentir”: “to hear” and, also, “to feel” or “perceive”.  

This expresses the central idea of the exhibition: violence isn’t an exception or an accident; on the contrary, it is a sort of continuous sound atmosphere, which we don’t hear because we are inside it.

In parallel to the exhibition, a series of lectures and documentary films will be offered, to be held in the Arts Santa Mònica lecture room on Wednesday October 19 and 26, Thursday October 3 and 10, Thursday November 24, and Tuesday December 22.

There are a lot of forms of violence that go unnoticed. The fact that you can’t hear them doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Welcome to 60 dB / 16 kHz of violence in the city Barcelona!

Participating projects:

- Sang i merda al barri del Raval. Miquel Fernández, Andrés Antebi, Pablo González

- Devenir documento. Juan Pablo Caicedo

- Neoromàntica clàssica. Barcelona. Marta Rosell Chust

- _Reservat. Arantxa Vallés Cardona, Georgina Sedano Garcia, Marta Rosell Chust

- La violència és innumerable. Estadístiques de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona

- Diccionari incomplet: Guia per al reconeixement de comportaments violents. Amparo Huertas Bailén, InCom-UAB (Institut de la Comunicació – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) Col·laboradores: Maria Luna i Montserrat Santamarina

- Carmen. Btihaj Ajana, Beth Anderson, Francesca Romana Degl’Innocenti, John English, Tom Garner, Roisín Gorman, Leanne Hayman, James Moorby, Adam Reid Palmer, Holly Sexton, Roger Vinós, Samantha Wallace, Asya Zuyeva. Producció: OTOXO Productions

- #ICSI In Vitro. Associació Ombra (art, pensament i gènere)

- Revelades. Amparo Huertas Bailén, Maria Luna i Montserrat Santamarina, Grup Internacional d’Estudis sobre Comunicació i Cultura, InCom-UAB (Institut de la Comunicació – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

- La ciutat horitzontal. Stefano Portelli, Sandra Capdevila Sardaña

 - La violència de ser activista. Gerardo Ariza, Mariana Huidobro, Ester Quintana

- Barcelona™. Barcelona Mata

- Ciutat d’excepció. Novact

- Cartografia carnal de la resistència. Lívia Motterle

- TRANSgressió entre reixes. Alan, David Urra

- Arxiu il·lustrat de l’odi. Toni Arnau. RUIDO Photo

- Uve invertida. Esmeralda G. Morales

 Coordination: Montse Pijoan, Manuel Delgado i Bea Guijarro
Artistic direction & Installation: BESTIARIO
Exhibition Design: Federico Ortiz
Graphic design: Joaquín Rodríguez Sala
Coordination of contents: Guillermo Aguirre
Sound Design: Cora Delgado
Graphic Design of the publication: Estela Ibarz
Photography: Fotomovimiento
Audiovisual technician: Jokin Buesa de Lavinia New Media