The festival concludes with a concert dedicated to the spaces we inhabit and that transform us.
Jacoba Van Tonder : Vertical Time. In collaboration with Wall of Sounds.
Vertical Time is a new sound work commissioned by the Transforming Data Reuse in Archaeology (TETRARCHs) project, led by the Department of Archaeology at the University of York. Inspired by archaeological research at the Bronze Age site of Hili in Al Ain, UAE—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—the piece translates excavated history, deep time, and the delicate craft of archaeological interpretation into a richly immersive sonic landscape.
During field visits with teams from the University of York, the University of Durham, and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, the composer observed excavations, recorded the sounds of archaeological practice, and gathered acoustic impressions from falaj water tunnels and ancient tombs. These experiences, combined with an interest in TETRARCHs’ wider human questions about past emotions, relationships, and resilience, shaped a musical response rooted in the vertical layering of time preserved in the soil.
Vertical Time begins in the vast desert soundscape of Al Ain, evoking the deep resonances of singing dunes before moving inward—toward echoes of tombs, whispered excavation sounds, and slowly shifting microtonal frequency layers. Using phenomena such as difference tones, the piece explores vibration as a form of memory, inviting listeners to inhabit time not as a horizontal line, but as a vertical depth measured in millimetres of accumulated human presence.
Ultimately, Vertical Time reflects on fragility, continuity, and the traces we leave behind, offering an open, contemplative space where past and present meet in shared listening.
Tickets available soon on this page.