11 Aug 2026
What sounds are heard when the climate is in crisis and species are dying out? This is the issue addressed by a student project at LMU’s Institute of Musicology in collaboration with Munich’s Lenbachhaus.
What does a melting iceberg sound like? Do people only notice that a species of insect has died out when it can no longer be heard? And what noises does an anthill make?
Many things that cannot immediately be seen leave clear acoustic traces. This layer of sound becomes most apparent when it comes under pressure – or disappears completely – in an age of climate crisis, land sealing, urbanization and the loss of biodiversity. Trees suffering from drought or heat stress sound different to healthy plants. Ironically, the disappearance of all the humming, buzzing and chirping of insects, the surreal sound of a melting glacier, the diminishing sound of waning biodiversity in increasingly overused commercial forests all ‘give voice’ to the crises of our day. Now, these sounds and noises are being channeled into artistic compositions and sound installations. As such, they are appearing on the research radar of musicologists.
11 Aug 2026
In a collaborative project involving Munich’s Lenbachhaus and the LMU Institute of Musicology, students are using a series of lectures to add a sound dimension to the exhibition “What may vanish becomes image”. Together with Dr. Stefanie Strigl, who runs the course, the students have created short audio sequences with texts, bioacoustic recordings and music samples to go with the various landscapes and nature studies in the exhibition. For the remaining duration of the exhibition, their contributions can be heard via audio guide or smartphone.
The students are also exploring how current ecological crises are affecting musical scholarship, and what sustainability might look like in this discipline. Funded out of the sustainability budget set aside for LMU’s Faculty of History and the Arts, the project invites visitors to perceive the impact of climate change and the loss of biodiversity not only with their eyes, but also with their ears.
The exhibition “What may vanish becomes image” runs until spring 2027 at the Lenbachhaus in Munich. The audio recordings can be heard via audio guide or smartphone starting in September.
Aspects of the project will also go on show at the Vier-Augen gallery by the stairs leading up from the Giselastrasse subway station.