Soundwalk Collective & Patti Smith:CORRESPONDENCES

Audiovisual works by Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith will be
presented for the first time in Japan.

CORRESPONDENCES is an ongoing body of work by Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith, consisting of multiple films, light tables, mixed media collage works, and site specific interventions. These unique works are composed of audio-visual material, where 'sonic memories' collected through field recordings are paired with film photography and original poetry. Multiple narratives are woven together in eight films that correspond as diptychs, and which explore themes such as the nuclear disaster of Chernobyl, wildfires destroying forests around the world since Patti Smith’s year of birth, and the mass extinction of animals; while also referencing artists and revolutionaries such as Pasolini, Medea, and Godard; questioning the role of the artist and the nature of humanity.

Exhibition Overview

From April 26, 2025, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo will host CORRESPONDENCES, an exhibition of the ongoing collaborative project by Berlin based contemporary sonic art platform Soundwalk Collective and global cultural icon, artist and writer Patti Smith.

Soundwalk Collective, led by artist Stephan Crasneanscki and producer Simone Merli, is a contemporary sonic arts platform that uses the tangible and spiritual power of sound to create site-and-context specific projects that bring stories to life and explore themes such as memory, time, love, and loss. Through collaborations with artists such as photographer Nan Goldin, Jean-Luc Godard Archives, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and choreographer Sasha Waltz, they have created numerous works based on conceptual, literary or artistic themes.

In 2017, music created by Soundwalk Collective was featured in the radio project Every Time a Ear di Soun that was presented at documenta 14, and in 2019 they presented the sound installation Mirage at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. They also composed an original score for All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, a documentary following the activities of Nan Goldin that won the Golden Lion at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival, while recording and releasing numerous records and exhibiting worldwide.

Patti Smith is a poet, musician, painter, and performer who has continued her creative work for more than half a century. Her groundbreaking debut album, Horses (1975), has earned a place in music history with its fusion of poetry and rock, expanding the possibilities of expression through punk and rock while inspiring generations of artists, from Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon to PJ Harvey. Starting in the late 1960s, Smith began creating photography and drawings, and in recent years, has expanded her creative activities to include installations, exhibiting in major museums around the world, including a large-scale solo exhibition Land 250 (2008) at the Fondation Cartier Pour L’Art Contemporain. Her works are also included in prestigious museum collections, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The creative collaboration between Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith has continued for more than a decade, with their collaborative works being presented in various forms such as live performances, exhibitions, screenings, poetry readings, and workshops around the world, including at the Venice Film Biennale, Kurimanzutto New York, and the Museum of Modern Art in Medellín, Colombia.

This exhibition will introduce their latest project, CORRESPONDENCES. The project has toured several locations, including the Tbilisi Photography and Multimedia Museum (2023, Georgia), the Museum of Modern Art in Medellín (2024-2025, Colombia), the Onassis Foundation in Athens (2024, Greece), Mendes Wood DM in Sao Paulo (2025, Brazil), and Kurimanzutto (2025, USA). This will be the first time the project is presented in Japan.

The exhibition MOT Plus Soundwalk Collective & Patti Smith: CORRESPONDENCES is the first initiative of MOT Plus. Launched in 2025 to mark the 30th anniversary of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, the MOT Plus Project serves as a platform for experimental projects that go beyond conventional exhibition formats to encompass performances, film screenings and other works. This exhibition marks the first in an ongoing series, and is co-organised with the cultural platform YY and is supported by MODE, the event series introducing experimental music, audiovisual art, and performing arts.

An artist talk between Soundwalk Collective founder Stephan Crasneanscki and Patti Smith will be taking place on 26th April. Information on how to participate and further details will be released on the MODE Instagram and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo website.

About CORRESPONDENCES

CORRESPONDENCES is a collaborative project between Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith, born from a dialogue spanning more than a decade. This ongoing and ever-evolving collaboration evokes the 'sonic memories' of various geographies, embodying the footsteps of artists, revolutionaries, and the continuous impact of climate change.

The process sees Crasneanscki visit distant lands of poetic inspiration and historical significance, collecting sonic memories through field recordings. Smith then composes poems through an intimate dialogue with his recordings, whilst Soundwalk Collective edits visuals to match the soundtrack. This process of "correspondence" has resulted in the eight video works that form the core of the exhibition—Pasolini, Medea, Children of Chernobyl, The Acolyte, the Artist and Nature, Cry of the Lost, Prince of Anarchy, Mass Extinction 1946-2024, and Burning 1946-2024.

These works will be presented as a bespoke audiovisual installation that envelopes the entire exhibition space with Soundwalk Collective’s recordings and sound design, layered with Smith's distinctive voice, inviting viewers into an immersive experience of approximately two hours where sound, visuals, and poetry intersect. The eight works, each focusing on different themes, will be projected on multiple screens, creating a direct connection between each work whilst communicating with the other artworks in the exhibition.

Lightboxes will display the inspiration behind the video works and the research conducted during their production process. It will showcase handwritten poems, scans of found objects, drawings and lyrics by Patti Smith, photographs and scientific data, offering a visual insight into the research and dialogue between Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith.

CORRESPONDENCES explores themes such as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, forest fires and the mass extinction of animals, while also referencing artists and revolutionaries such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Jean-Luc Godard, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Pyotr Kropotkin; questioning the relationship between man and nature, the role of the artist and the nature of humanity.

Exhibition Highlights

1. Rare Film Footage
The videos in this exhibition include edits of rare, previously unreleased footage from films such as Andrei Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev, Pier Paolo Pasolini's Medea (in which Maria Callas plays the tragic heroine from Greek mythology ), Abel Ferrara's Pasolini (which depicts the final day of the murdered Italian master Pier Paolo Pasolini), as well as NASA satellite imagery, ocean data visualized through collaboration with the research foundation TBA21-Academy, and the voice of Jean-Luc Godard.

2. Patti Smith’s Latest Works
Patti Smith, who began her career as a visual artist, has spent half a century pushing the boundaries of expression since her groundbreaking debut album Horses, which fused poetry and rock. In addition to her ongoing work in painting and photography since the late 1960s, she has expanded her creative scope to include installation works since the 2010s, and now, approaching 80, Smith has created new audiovisual works in collaboration with Soundwalk Collective. The powerful poems she composed while listening to field recordings amplify the 'sonic memories' of these various geographies, and present a perspective of the world and our environment that should be the focus of humanity's attention.

3. New Works Created in Residence in Japan
As CORRESPONDENCES tours around the world, it continues to evolve with the creation of new works in each location, resulting in site-specific exhibitions that change shape and form. In the past, Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith have created site-specific works in countries such as Georgia, Colombia, Mexico, and the United States, building a multifaceted relationship with audiences through works that respond to the history and cultural landscape of each place. On this occasion, Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith will be working on new pieces during their stay in Japan, which will be presented as part of this exhibition.

Artists

An artist talk between Soundwalk Collective founder Stephan Crasneanscki and Patti Smith will be taking place on 26th April (Sat). Information on how to participate and further details will be released on the MODE Instagram and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo website.