Neil Leonard's Matanzas Sound Map Brings Immersive Sonic Cartography to Tate Modern's East Tank Blending field recordings, video projections, and glass sculptures, the installation immerses visitors in the sonic landscapes of Matanzas, Cuba.
By
Daniel Pesquera
March 21, 2025
Matanzas Sound Map on display at Tate Modern in 2025.
Tate / Reece Straw
The Tate Modern is featuring Matanzas Sound Map, a large-scale multimedia installation by Neil Leonard, artistic director of the Berklee Interdisciplinary Arts Institute, and renowned visual artist Mar a Magdalena Campos-Pons. Running from March through October, the piece is part of the Tate collection and is installed in the East Tank, a former oil tank now repurposed as a gallery for live art, performance, film, and video.
Inspired by the vibrant sounds of Cuba's Matanzas province, Matanzas Sound Map blends multichannel audio, video projections, and glass sculptures to immerse visitors in the region's rich sonic and cultural environment. Leonard has spent over 30 years recording the area's natural and human ecosystems, capturing everything from folkloric music to the ambient sounds of markets, rivers, and estuaries. He and Campos-Pons launched the project in 2015, incorporating hundreds of new recordings, including interviews with community members, into a deeply layered listening experience.
I am deeply honored and excited to have the Matanzas Sound Map project exhibited at the Tate Modern, said Leonard. This was an extremely collaborative endeavor that involved speaking to and listening with dozens of people in the community, including pedestrians, artists, and musicians. We listened to things together and recorded sounds that they heard and made in their daily life. Visitors to the exhibit will share in a collective listening experience as well, as they are immersed in the sonic landscape of Matanzas, and I think the layers of collective listening experiences permeating this work are very powerful.
Leonard refers to this deep engagement with place and sound as sonic cartography. The resulting composition plays through nine speakers encircling visitors, cycling through loops of environmental sounds, song, speech, and ethereal electronic textures. More than 350 audio clips have been edited, mixed, and mastered, with many reconfigured or resurrected from archived recordings specifically for the Tate installation, designed to accentuate the cavernous acoustics of the East Tank.
This new showing reflects Neils profound understanding of the unique acoustic and architectural elements of the building and beautifully responds to the visual and auditory dynamics of the space, said Michael Wellen, senior curator of international art at Tate Modern. The result is a dramatic blend of sculpture, video, and sonic art that brings to life the rich cultures and histories of Matanzas, Cuba, while also immersing visitors in the atmospheric drama of the building in ways never done before.
Originally commissioned for the Documenta 14 contemporary art exhibition, Matanzas Sound Map debuted in Athens, Greece, in 2017. In addition to its sonic elements, the installation showcases striking visual works by Campos-Pons, including cast and blown glass sculptures, as well as environmental art composed of handmade paper and materials sourced from coconuts. The project also features contributions from legendary rumba and folkloric artist Raphael Navarro, Latin Grammy-nominated singer Ana P rez, and members of the renowned Cuban rumba ensemble Los Mu equitos de Matanzas. For the first iteration of the work, Leonard collaborated with Berklee alumni Joe Branciforte BM '07, Nassos Vynios BM '94, and Nikhil Singh BM '17, who assisted with mixing and mastering.
For me, what makes the piece moving is that it is all organically generated original recordings, said Leonard. I talk with my students about how critical it is to carefully listen to the people you are collaborating with, and how we need to create a space where different voices can have input as to what we listen to and how we listen to it. From my perspective as an outsider, building this cross-cultural bridge was critical for the success of the project.
Leonard's work has been featured in major museums worldwide. In 2019, the Williams College Museum of Art exhibited his piece Sonance for the Precession, coinciding with his tenure as an artist-in-residence, during which he taught two courses in electronic music.
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Toto in the recording studio from Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary.
Photograph by Jim Hagopian/HBO
The Best Music Documentaries on Every Streaming Platform Explore groundbreaking music documentaries streaming across Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, and more. From intimate artist portraits to legendary concert films, discover the stories behind your favorite artists and iconic moments.
Latest
Matanzas Sound Map on display at Tate Modern in 2025.
Tate / Reece Straw
Neil Leonard's Matanzas Sound Map Brings Immersive Sonic Cartography to Tate Modern's East Tank Blending field recordings, video projections, and glass sculptures, the installation immerses visitors in the sonic landscapes of Matanzas, Cuba.
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Presents the Tony Award-Winning Musical Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 The musical, adapted from Tolstoy's War and Peace, will be performed at the Calderwood Pavilion.
Berklees Music Inclusion Ensemble elevates the unique artistry of musicians with disabilities.
Elizabeth Friar
Berklee's Trailblazing Music Inclusion Ensemble Debuts at Berklee Performance Center Led by Adrian Anantawan and Gaelynn Lea, this free concert highlights the talents of disabled musicians from across the Berklee community.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories,
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
11/07/2025
PARK CITY, UTAH, July 11, 2025 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 11 producers chosen for its annual Producers Labs, returning to Ucross Fou...
11/07/2025
If you've ever wondered what might be playing in Clark Kent's headphones...
11/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert and General Manager of L3Harris Waco facility Sean Ling held a ce...
11/07/2025
ARLINGTON, Va. WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washingt...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking h...
11/07/2025
Calrec will introduce usability, customization and system enhancements across its entire range of Argo consoles during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterda...
11/07/2025
LONDON Encompass Digital Media said it will support live and on-demand viewing of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup across multiple global regions for sports enterta...
11/07/2025
Two-thirds of broadcast engineers reaped the benefits of a pay raise within the last year....
11/07/2025
CARY, N.C. SmallHD has launched the Quantum 27, a new 26.5-inch Quantum-Dot OLED monitor designed to deliver postproduction image quality in a compact, set-frie...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Tegna have entered into a consent decree that will settle an investigation into the accidenta...
11/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following news in early July that Paramount had settled President Donald Trump's lawsuit, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luj n (D-N...
11/07/2025
Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbe...
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Too Hot to Handle: Italy Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalItaly
Link copied to clipboard
July 11, 20...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Will Release Death Inc. Seasons 1, 2 and 3
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Season 1
Season 2
Se...
11/07/2025
AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standards Collaboration launches two papers to guide the future of AI integration, today at the AI for Good Global Summit
The...
11/07/2025
Ceramics - the humble mix of earth, fire and artistry - have been part of a global conversation for millennia.
From Tang Dynasty trade routes to Renaissance pa...
10/07/2025
The current holder of the prestigious Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year Award has been forced to stop reporting over fears for her safety in Afgha...
10/07/2025
Spotify is turning up the volume on Australian music with a multipronged initiative designed to highlight the dominance of Australian artists on the global stag...
10/07/2025
This is not a drill: Oasis is back on the road-marking its first live performanc...
10/07/2025
The music industry depends on fresh ideas, bold voices, and emerging talent. Yet across the U.K., too many young musicians lack the space to develop their craft...
10/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...
10/07/2025
Local newscasts don't exist in a vacuum. News directors and station management constantly evaluate what's working, what isn't and perhaps most impor...
10/07/2025
Lawo has announced that Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien, HdM) has comprehensively modernized its central recording studio after selecting an I...
10/07/2025
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a ne...
10/07/2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. TNDV Television has launched Aspiration 35, a new version of its 40-foot Aspiration truck reimagined for cinematic multicamera productions....
10/07/2025
BURBANK, Calif. Key Code Education, a provider of instructor-led postproduction training, is growing its curriculum with new programs for beginner and intermedi...
10/07/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. Actus Digital will demonstrate how broadcasters can transform compliance monitoring from a necessary expense into a strategic revenue driver at...
10/07/2025
The Federal Register has published a summary of the Federal Communications Commission's Public Notice seeking comments on its ownership rules that lists a d...
10/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Presents the Official Trailer for SuperestarPlay Video
Play Video
Entertainment
10 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard...
10/07/2025
In the race to understand our planet's changing climate, speed and accuracy are everything. But today's most widely used climate simulators often strugg...
10/07/2025
As one of the world's largest emerging markets, Indonesia is making strides toward its Golden 2045 Vision - an initiative tapping digital technologies and...
10/07/2025
10 Jul 2025
VEON and Cohen Circle Secure Investor Commitments for Kyivstar Listing Kyiv, New York, Dubai, and Philadelphia - July 10, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq:...
10/07/2025
5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...
10/07/2025
Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...
10/07/2025
Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...
10/07/2025
Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions I...
10/07/2025
FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First P...
10/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint...
10/07/2025
Thursday 10 July 2025
The Very Small Creatures
Jaime's Treetop Tales
Emerald
BooSnoo! Christmas Mashup
Pip & Posy's Spooktacular Party
The Very Sm...
10/07/2025
Thursday 10 July 2025
Brand new rewards are coming to Sky customers, with free ...
Neil Leonard's Matanzas Sound Map Brings Immersive Sonic Cartography to Tate Modern's East Tank Blending field recordings, video projections, and glass sculptures, the installation immerses visitors in the sonic landscapes of Matanzas, Cuba.
