Art and Soundscape: A proposal for listening to and revaluing the urban environment.

Abstract

This text argues that the soundscape, a fundamental dimension of community memory and identity, is frequently ignored or reduced to a simple “noise problem.” It contends that the acoustic complexity of urban life—woven from sounds like the calls of sweet potato vendors, the bells of trash collectors, or the cracking of whips during patron saint festivals—constitutes a valuable cultural heritage in its own right. These everyday sounds are temporal markers and living testimonies to local economies, traditional trades, and specific ways of inhabiting the street. In the face of this disregard, art is proposed as a key instrument for raising awareness and revaluation. Artistic practice functions as a methodological lens that enriches research, allowing one to hear textures, rhythms, and meaningful silences that might otherwise go unnoticed. The goal is to foster a renewed sense of listening that encourages us to build acoustic environments that are more significant and culturally resonant.