Note to Correspondents

AUDIO SCULPTURE ‘KARITO’ AT UNITED NATIONS

 

An audio sculpture entitled KARITO will open in the North-East Gallery of the Visitors Lobby at 7 p.m. on Thursday, 16 October.

This unique exhibition, created by composer and artist David Barratt, is made from interpretations of the 192 national anthems of the Member States of the United Nations, layered one upon the other, and projected simultaneously from multiple sound sources.  The position of the listener determines which instrument comes to the fore and which becomes background.  The music, unlike most composed pieces, does not have a beginning, middle or end and is not constant.  The random selection of instruments and themes from the various sound sources makes it impossible to predict what will happen next.  No two listeners will experience the same piece in the same way.

KARITO is the Esperanto word meaning “love of one’s neighbour”.

“This musical structure of bringing individual parts together as a new whole, to be experienced from different perspectives, echoes what I believe to be at the core of the United Nations or any other international endeavour,” says Mr. Barratt.

“KARITO at the United Nations” is presented by Louis XIII de Rémy Martin, in cooperation with the United Nations Department of Public Information.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, call Jan Arnesen at tel.:  212 963 8531 or Liza Wichmann at tel.:  212 963 0089.

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For information media • not an official record