In the complex universe of embracing himself as a man of sound, Mauricio Bejarano (Bogotá, 1955) began his inner journey early in the 1990s, accompanied by the rigorous practice of "total listening." This concept led him to explore acousmatics as a creative laboratory that originates from total darkness, enabling him to create artistic interventions such as installations, sound objects, and musique concrète compositions, as well as to explore the construction of sound.
An architect by profession, Bejarano has reevaluated spatial and conceptual ideas surrounding so-called "sound art." Through this discipline, he has participated in numerous exhibitions and also explored the concept of archiving by investigating national sound archives of various regions and mass media outlets. Currently, he is focused on developing new artistic projects centered on sound as both representation and material, teaching at the university level, and expanding his personal sound collection. Regarding the practice of listening, recognizing the inner voice, and the sounds that animate a specific place from which a distinct spatiality arises, Mauricio Bejarano created a studio with functional listening.
This concept, developed by Pauline Oliveros decades ago, was used by the artist to understand those "other sonic worlds" that emerged from a narrative and literary focal point where he interpreted the Sincelejo soundscape and shared concepts such as sound ecology, acoustic ethics, and sonic urbanity.
Following this purpose, those who attend his performances and exhibitions gain a personal understanding of sonic notions based on universal reflections, such as noise, silence, sound, and music, with which Bejarano constructs an atlas drawn from the intimate interpretation of the sounds that surround his life. Bejarano unifies this individual dimension by developing sound maps based on the participants' experiences and sound artifacts created with elements specific to the place, as well as his own voice.
Thus, Mauricio Bejarano creates a local story through contemporary music, continuing his research and inviting us to consider " the responsibility we have in all our actions in relation to the soundscape as a whole," as words enhance the sound experience for anyone who has the chance to encounter it.
