Hannah Traore Gallery announces The Voice Does Go Up, an exhibition by Camila Falquez and Luis Rincón Alba. The Voice Does Go Up is a multimedia installation and performance site that explores the various dimensions and potentials of the human voice. Activated through video, audio recording, and live performance, these scenarios feature collective assemblages of sound where the voice emerges through its gestural and material qualities. Emphasizing the role of the voice in music, the installation delves into and accentuates the most captivating and enchanting traits of sound. The exhibition’s title originates in a quote from the Saint Lucian poet and playwright Derek Walcott. In an interview with Edward Hirsch for The Paris Review in 1986 entitled “The Art of Poetry,” Walcott compared the task of the poet to that of the calypso singer, explaining “The voice does go up in a poem. It is an address, even if it is to oneself.”
The exhibition space is a monochromatic red environment featuring two tall panels onto which videos are embedded. The panels surround a performance device: a sparse plywood and canvas cube where the sound piece is played—a grounding structure within which the voice is amplified. Throughout the installation, captivating visual reflections emerge, offering insights into the physical conditions necessary for the voice to ascend. In addition to sound and video, Falquez and Rincón Alba will offer a series of specially designed performances within the installation space; these performances aim to further highlight the power and expressive range of the voice.
There are two types of videos in the exhibition, each offering unique perspectives. The first type comprises videos captured during fieldwork in Cuba and New Orleans, documenting vibrant religious and carnival celebrations where the charismatic power of the singing voice leads intimate gatherings. These videos provide viewers with the privilege of witnessing the bodily mastery required to channel specific vocal techniques that are believed to summon mystical forces. In contrast, the second type features studio-recorded video. Set within a controlled environment, these videos examine the intricate process behind producing such ascending voices. Singers and musicians hailing from the Caribbean diaspora and currently residing in New York, demonstrate how the body contorts, twists, and reshapes itself to achieve vocal strength. The central video features Colombian-born singer Carolina Oliveros.
Hannah Traore Gallery | 150 Orchard Street, New York
On View July 7-October 7, 2023
