Published by Soundarte.net – April 2025
On Saturday, April 26, the South Omaha Immigrant Museum will host a cultural event that transcends borders and institutions:
“Omaha and Global Sound Art: Connections with Mexico and New Territories”
This conversation brings together two vital figures in Omaha’s experimental music community: Dr. Stacey Barelos and Alex Jacobsen. The session will be moderated by José Trujillo, director of Soundarte.net, and will mark a critical moment in the ongoing dialogue between North and Latin American sound cultures.
But this event is not just a local talk—it is a continuation of something much larger.
Earlier this month, both Barelos and Jacobsen traveled to Guanajuato, Mexico, to participate in the 2025 edition of Festival Ex Nihilo, a binational festival organized by Soundarte.net that blends experimental music, post-digital art, and transdisciplinary performance. Held in historic venues such as Teatro Cervantes and Teatro Juárez, the festival featured artists from Mexico, the U.S., and beyond, fostering deep exchanges between emerging and established voices.
Dr. Barelos led a deep listening workshop and presented a solo performance that bridged body, space, and sound through extended techniques and subtle sonic textures. Her presence in Mexico also reflected her ongoing commitment to education and artistic exchange. Alex Jacobsen, meanwhile, performed with the trio Proxy Flesh, alongside musicians Lilian Kay and Phill Smith, in an improvisational set rooted in hybrid electronics and noise-based inquiry. Their performance at Teatro Juárez was a raw, visceral highlight of the festival’s closing night.
As Soundarte.net prepares for the U.S. edition of Festival Ex Nihilo—scheduled for September 2025 in Omaha—this upcoming April 26 conference becomes both a debrief and a bridge. It offers a moment to reflect on what was built in Mexico, and to invite Omaha’s communities into the next phase of the project: a cross-border sound movement grounded in solidarity, critical listening, and technological justice.
During the event, Barelos and Jacobsen will each give short presentations on their current work, artistic processes, and institutional roles. The conversation will also explore Omaha’s unique position as a decentralized but influential sound art hub—one that produces not just experimental works, but experimental ways of organizing, teaching, and collaborating.
This event will also launch Soundarte.net’s 2025 fundraising campaign, which supports post-digital workshops, public performances, and tech-access initiatives across the U.S. and Mexico. As we look toward the fall edition of Ex Nihilo, we invite our community to become active participants in shaping this evolving binational network.
Event Details:
📅 Saturday, April 26, 2025
🕔 2:00 PM
📍 South Omaha Immigrant Museum
🎟 Free and open to all
For press inquiries or to support Soundarte.net, contact: sener@soundarte.net