Following last year’s collaboration, Nieuwe Instituut and Rewire co-host Research Nights: Through Sounds x Rewire on 27 March, 19:00–21:00 at Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam.

The evening explores coming-of-age experience through music, tracing how deeply personal encounters with music and sounds evolve into collective expressions and moments of gathering, where music becomes a companion in shaping identity in relation to place and others.

Through the internet and club culture, music connects isolated experiences, creating networks of shared meaning and exchange. Tracks become social objects – telling stories, sparking connections and transforming spaces. Research Nights explores how individuals and collectives interact in the process of coming of age, by thinking about how music shapes personal and shared experiences.

This evening is the first in a series of joint events forming part of Rewire’s context programme. With contributions by Content Care, Juliette Lizotte, De Schuurman and No Plexus. Federica Notari and Katía Truijen lead the discussion.

Through Sounds is a long-term research project by Nieuwe Instituut that looks at this ‘sonic culture’ as a field for spatial and social design. Where people listen is connected to different structures – physical, social, political and socio-economic.

Image by Catherine Hu (2025)