From 3 to 6 September 2026, the international and interdisciplinary conference “The Global Composition 2026 – Connective Resonance for (Post)humans” took place. The programme brought together academic panels, concerts, audio experiences and discussion sessions on the grounds of the Dieburg Media Campus and at other venues in Darmstadt

On the first day, the focus was on artistic and academic perspectives on mediatised auditory experiences and their resonances. The programme opened with a concert by Barry Truax, Hildegard Westerkamp and Leah Barclay. This was followed by two academic panels on the topics of

• Aesthetic Education and Transformation
• Art, Aesthetics and Sound Practices

Barry Truax’s keynote lecture, entitled ‘The Evolution of the Listener within a Technologically Saturated Soundscape’, held in the canteen at the Dieburg campus, brought the first day of the conference to a close.

The full programme can be viewed here:

The conference was organised by Prof. Dr Sabine Breitsameter and Prof. Dr Judith Bihr, both members of the fz dkmi and affiliated with the International Media Cultural Work (IMC) degree programme, the dkmi Research Centre at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences and the European Technical University (euT+). It is organised in collaboration with Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Fulda University of Applied Sciences, the Hessian Film and Media Academy (hFMA), Centralstation Darmstadt and World Design Capital 2026 Frankfurt Rhine-Main.

The Global Composition 2026 examined the connections between acoustic ecology and soundscape research on the one hand, and democratic processes, social cohesion, sustainability and participation on the other. Building on Peter Sloterdijk’s concept of the ‘social bond of audiophony’, the project examines the extent to which soundspace research – together with analyses of its health-related, social and aesthetic dimensions, as well as the resulting creative practices and auditory poetologies – can help to strengthen our democratic coexistence, cultures of coexistence and sustainable processes.