The Ma�opolska Institute of Culture has come up with quite an extra-ordinary idea to promote the region, whose capital is Krakow. Soon the inhabitants of Brussels might be surprised by the “earfones” which will try to present the sound picture of the Ma�opolska Region in the capital of Belgium.
But what the “earfones” are going to be? Well, they are going to be three, 50-meter-high sculptures in the form of a human ear. They are going to be made of epoxy resins and have a loudspeaker inside. The “Earfones” will have 5 thematic programmes of sounds to choose from. The programme thematically connected with the ethnography of the Ma�opolska Region is called “folk” (includes sounds of pipes, bass, chimes), with the sounds of nature “ambient” (sheep in the field, sounds of a meadow) and the “urban&industrial” programme will be filled with the sounds of Krakow – it will be possible to hear the characteristic Cracovian bugle call, the noises of a tram and a busy street.
There are, however, many people who oppose to the project as it is quite innovative and unconventional. Among those people are the members of the Regional Council, who claim that there is nothing attractive in the sounds of trams going along Cracovian streets and that these noises will certainly not make anyone visit the city. Right now, the project has been temporarily included into the campaign “Turn your ear to Ma�opolska” which is aimed at the employees of the EU institutions and the inhabitants of Brussels.
