Voicing Etz Hayyim: Dr Ros Bandt

An acoustic profile of the Etz Hayyim Synagogue and its community, recorded and composed by internationally renowned Australian sound artist Dr Ros Bandt (with assistance from Gabriel Negrin), will be performed on the occasion of the European Day of Jewish Culture on September 4th 2016 in Hania, Crete. 

The Etz Hayyim, (the Tree of Life), is the only remaining synagogue on the island of Crete, Greece. It is located in Parodos Kondylaki in the old Jewish quarter of Hania, a town in the north-west of Crete with a population of around 60,000. In 1995, the Synagogue was listed as one of the 100 most endangered monuments in the world. This paper traces the sounds that were experienced, heard, listened to, and recorded in the restored synagogue from the beginning of November 2010 until the end of April 2011, just nine months after two arson attacks severely damaged the buildings and its contents. These sounds and stories heard and recorded at Etz Hayyim are those of a special and diverse international Jewish community. The building and the people have a unique history, whose values and identity are embodied in the sounds heard. 

For further information on the history of this project please read Dr Ros Bandt's paper "Bringing the Sounds Back to Etz Hayyim: An acoustic profile of a resurrected endangered space" published in Soundscape - The Journal of Acoustic Ecology (Volume 11 Fall/Winter 2011). Download the full paper here. 

Dr Ros Bandt's presentation for the European Day of Jewish Culture

Listen to Ros Band't composition Voicing Etz Hayyim