From a certain perspective, one square metre can be a pulsating universe of sound. Tomáš Šenkyřík brings this idea to NEXT on a eight-channel sound setup. Raw underwater field recordings of a freshwater wetland have never sounded better.

Tomáš Šenkyřík is a Czech musicologist and sound artist whose work focuses on acoustic ecology, field recordings and uncovering hidden musical structures in our sound environment. The album 1m² (2025), released on the Skupina label, is inspired by David George Haskell’s book The Forest Unseen. On it, Šenkyřík limited himself to exploring a single square metre of a South Moravian wetland near his home.

Šenkyřík blurs the line between natural sounds and the anthropogenic sounds of civilisation. For years he has been capturing the sonic identity of the landscape, mainly in South Moravia, and transforming it into conceptual albums and gallery and intermedia installations.

At NEXT, Šenkyřík will present the concert premiere of endlessly shifting rhythmic structures abstracted from the communication of aquatic insects. These rhythms intertwine with the unique melodies of oxygen-producing underwater photosynthesis. Expect magical glissandi, gliding tones and simple melodic structures in immersive spatial sound.

Two of his recent albums, STESCOU (2026) and 306 (2025), were featured in Bandcamp’s Best Field Recordings of the month column.

 

New work was commissioned by A4 as part of the New Perspectives for Action project within the international collaboration Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the European Union and supported using public funding by the Slovak Arts Council and Bratislava City Foundation.

@reimagineeurope #NewPerspectivesForAction #europeanunion #CreativeEurope