Cilia Erens
In the footsteps of Saint Oda

Cilia Erens works with sound and mainly focuses on how we experience it. In her sound walks, sound panoramas and soundscapes, she uses everyday and primarily unmixed sound. Her specialty is ‘audible space’, through which she reveals deep layers of meaning without the use of text. One of her most famous works is Silencer, a sound performance about the inaudible quality of remaining silent.

Listening to Erens’ compositions always offers a new reality within the existing one. She toys with the magic of our imaginary and - at the same time - actual past. With the use of headphones, she guides the listener to other realms and, in this case, another era. For Oda, een geluidsrelikwie (680 A.D. - 2007) she went on a quest for the woman after whom Sint-Oedenrode was named, to wit, the Eighth Century Scottish Princess Oda.

While in Scotland, Erens kept a journal. Below is an excerpt:

What Oda heard
First she could only hear and then, eventually, she could see. The Scottish princess Oda, after whom Sint-Oedenrode was named, was born blind. I’m wondering how she managed to find her way around. How far did her sound horizon reach in Eighth Century Scotland? By fixing microphones no larger than pin-heads just above my ears, I set out into the 21st Century Scotland to discover what Oda would have heard before she had the ability to see.

On 30 September, during the Cultural Day, the residents of Sint-Oedenrode can relive the age-old myth of Saint Oda. The sound work Oda, een geluidsrelikwie brings to life a unique rendition of the legendary voyage of Saint Oda to Sint-Oedenrode. Sounds that Saint Oda must have heard in Scotland’s distant past gradually blend with the present-day sounds of Sint-Oedenrode. Visitors who will join the event on 30 September will travel blindfolded and under supervision to the chapel of Saint Oda. Special ‘sound blindfolds’ were designed for this walk, allowing visitors to travel in a three-dimensional style.

30 September
Walks depart every half hour between 12.30 and 8.00 pm
To register:
Bibliotheek Sint-Oedenrode
tel. 0413 472991
Reservations mandatory

The complete journal can be read on www.cilia-erens.nl