Conference at Porto Alegre (BR), June 1st–4th, 2027
UFRGS / Unisinos
A massive sound system, blasting at full volume, spills beyond the dance party’s boundaries and shakes the tiles loose from a neighbor’s house. A streaming platform algorithm promises to normalize volume levels across songs from different eras. Civilians develop tinnitus from the deafening blast of a military-grade explosive. A mosh pit goads the bassist into stopping their performance to join the crowd. A resident develops anxiety, overwhelmed by the soundscape of a megalopolis’s ceaseless vertical construction. Musical creation lives a life of its own, where the room, the instrument, music history, musical systems, the weather, the power grid, and other elements displace individual human will in the process of making music. The ruckus of a beach—sonically saturated by the sea, portable speakers, the street vendor’s cryes, and beach sports on a sunny summer day—actually reveals a complex, sophisticated arrangement of leisure practices self organized by the place’s regulars.
The upcoming edition of CIPS aims to reflect on musical and sonic phenomena where the concept of control is radically intersected by forces beyond control. Not in opposition, but in a relationship of complementarity, overlap, and intertwining: we propose viewing the “out-of-control” as a foundational, explosive component of regulatory systems. It is about liminal moments—losing one’s footing and finding it again, transformed. Where distinct sounds meet, a form of self-organization begins to take shape—defined not by pre-existing criteria, but by rules that emerge as the audible relationship gains substance. After all, sounds invade us, make us vibrate, and transform the bodies surrounding them.
Perhaps sound is, in fact, a strange machine: one that simultaneously generates chaos, organization, cooperation, and transformation. It may be worth considering an acoustic ecology based not on prescribing what should or should not sound, but rather on the ways sounds accommodate—and impose themselves upon—one another in their constant movement of emerging and fading away.
The theme of Out of Control resonates with Porto Alegre — the host city for the V CIPS — as it currently rebuilds its music scenes while still reeling from the effects of the worst flood in its history. This disaster inundated thousands of homes, businesses, nightclubs, and cultural centers, further damaging a sector of the state’s economy that was already deeply fragile due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The concept of being “out of control” also serves as a way to confront these and other catastrophes: persisting in the quixotic creation of sounds, charting diagonal lines of thought, sonifying lines of flight, and harmonizing or desynchronizing practices that either vie for or share the same territory. The expansive, sensory dynamic of sound establishes an inherently provocative relationship with the idea of control: it presents itself at times as something to be resisted, at others as something to play with, and at still others as an invitation to surrender to the chaos and order unleashed by its power.
Reflecting on these relationships, GEIST (Study Group on Image, Soundscapes, and Technologies) invites artists and researchers to submit artistic proposals and scholarly papers for the V International Conference on Sonorities Research (CIPS), to be held from June 1 to 4, 2027, in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. For the first time, the event will be co-hosted by two institutions: Unisinos on June 1 and 2, and UFRGS on June 3 and 4.
We welcome submissions involving any type of medium, format, or technology related to various aspects of soundscapes. Perspectives of interest for this edition include, but are not limited to:
- The crisis of musical authorship and copyright;
- The problem of cataloging, describing, and preserving sounds;
- The controlled and statistical manipulation of sounds by artificial intelligence;
- From functional apparatuses to the functionaries of apparatuses;
- History/histories of control in music and sound;
- Policies of musical and sonic (de)control;
- Sound, listening, and self-management/self-organization;
- Sound, listening, and the imposition/sharing of control;
- Compositional control and practices of de-control;
- Uncontrolled performances and performative control;
- Musical and sonic epistemologies and ontologies: limitations of control;
- Cultural control, censorship, streaming platforms, recommendation algorithms, artificial intelligence, and data control structures;
- Systems for selecting sounds and music; control of musical circulation and consumption;
- Improvising a way out: paths and lines of flight beyond control.
The organizing committee will assemble the panels based on thematic affinities among the submissions; papers need not adhere to a single one of these perspectives. It is not necessary (nor recommended) to specify a perspective when submitting a paper.
SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS FOR SCIENTIFIC PAPERS
Abstracts for scientific papers and research projects must be submitted by November 24, 2026, to the email address cips.sonoridades@gmail.com in .doc (or .docx) format, with the subject line reading: “V CIPS – Resumo”.
The V CIPS will be an entirely in-person event; none of its activities will be broadcast online.
The text must be formatted using Times New Roman font, size 12, with 1.5 line spacing. The document must include the following information, in this order:
- Proposal title;
- Proponents, their respective email addresses and institutional affiliations (or primary professional activity); highest academic degree, occupation or field of work, and city, state, and country of residence;
- An abstract of up to 500 words, outlining the theme, objectives, research problem, theoretical framework, methodology, and relevance to the event’s general theme;
- A bibliography listing up to 5 titles.
Abstracts may be submitted in Portuguese, Spanish, or English. We will correspond with the paper’s lead author regarding the receipt and evaluation of the abstract.
SCHEDULE
September 24, 2026 – Call for papers opens
November 24, 2026 – Deadline for abstract submission
December 15, 2026 – Deadline for submission of evaluations and acceptance letters
January 29, 2027 – Deadline to confirm attendance at the event
February 19, 2027 – Announcement of the final list of confirmed papers
April 5, 2027 – Announcement of the complete event program
May 3, 2027 – Release of the event abstract book
June 1, 2, 3, and 4, 2027 – Event dates
SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS FOR ARTISTIC PERFORMANCES
V CIPS invites artistic proposals that address or relate to the event’s theme, “Out of Control”. Works of the following types will be evaluated under these conditions:
- Performances and happenings: Duration of up to 20 minutes;
- Installations: Up to 8 works will be selected for exhibition in common areas at Unisinos and UFRGS;
- Sound or audiovisual pieces (up to 20 minutes):
If there is interest in exhibiting in other formats, please indicate this in the proposal for evaluation. APPROVAL IS SUBJECT TO INFRASTRUCTURE AVAILABILITY.
Only works that do not pose a risk to users or exhibition spaces, and that reflect good practices regarding democratic coexistence, tolerance, and general social interaction, will be accepted.
Proposals for artistic performances must be submitted by November 24, 2026, via the electronic form available at a link to be released starting October 1st. Please attach the files listed below in .doc (or .docx) format.
- The text must be formatted in Times New Roman font, size 12, with 1.5 line spacing. The document must include:
- Proposal title;
- Proponents and their respective email addresses;
- Description of up to 500 words;
- For sound or audiovisual pieces: submit an MP3 or MP4 file of the piece or an excerpt (if already completed);
- For installations: submit an image file showing the proposal/exhibition layout or assembly scheme;
- Technique/Format and a brief description of required equipment (or technical rider);
- Duration (for live performances), not exceeding 20 minutes;
- Short biography of the author(s) (up to 100 words each), stating institutional affiliation (or primary activity), highest academic degree, occupation or field of work, and city and country of residence.
For further information, pease visit the conference´s website.
Porto.
information and Call for Papers will follow very soon…