• Sonogram: performances that explore the limits of contemporary sound.
• The festival will be available on December 5, 6, and 7 at the MADC Museum. Admission will be free and open to the public.

November 19, 2025

SONOGRAM is a sensitive capture of the pulse of experimental music and sound practices in their diversity, situated in a local context and open to all their forms. As a festival, it proposes an immersion in a wide spectrum of auditory experiences, where synthesizers converse with innovative instruments created by the artists themselves, as well as with classical or traditional instruments used in unconventional ways. Through a series of performances and presentations, the public can enjoy the subtle landscapes of ambient music, the profound calm of meditative music, the abstract atmospheres of sound architecture, and the liberating intensity of noise.

To happen at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design in San José, Costa Rica, SONOGRAMA unfolds within the industrial architecture of La Pila de la Melaza and El Tanque, spaces transformed into alternative stages, resonating with the ambient sounds of the city. Hours: Friday 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., Saturday 2:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m., and Sunday 11:00 a.m.-6:20 p.m.

“This festival is the result of the vision and trajectory of more than three decades of the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, an institution that promotes experimentation in art and remains at the forefront of Costa Rican culture. This vocation is realized through rigorous curatorial work that selects high-quality artistic proposals, representative of the talent, maturity, and excellence of the local scene, to position it on the international map of sound experimentation.

With SONOGRAMA, the aim is to stimulate creation and research around sound experimentation, as well as to open these artistic practices to all citizens, inviting them to reflect collectively on the sounds that are emerging in Costa Rica,” stated Carola Fumero, director of the MADC.

The performances to be shown are unprecedented, and many of the participating artists are presenting their work for the first time at the Museum. This gives SONOGRAMA a significant component of innovation and experimentation. Creating a festival where sound is the raw material of what is showcased is a challenge for the Museum and an invitation to its audiences to experience contemporary art in a sensory way, expanding our conceptions of art.

“SONOGRAMA seeks to consolidate sound experimentation as an essential part of contemporary artistic creation, offering artists an institutional platform that expands their reach and visibility. Through the festival format and diverse performances, we propose a collective space for listening and sensory experimentation, inviting the public to explore a broad emotional spectrum: from calm to euphoria, from contemplation to discomfort. In this journey, sound practices reveal themselves as a way to think about and feel the complexity of the present, recognizing the political power of listening and creating together,” mentioned Sofía Villena, chief curator of the MADC.

Far from imposing a theme, SONOGRAMA is conceived as a snapshot of the present. A highly sensitive capture of the state of experimental music and sound practices in a local context. Sound—as political, ecological, and cultural material—allows us to trace a sensitive map of a country in motion, traversed by contradictions, contested imaginaries, and powers yet to be named.

“The festival celebrates the amorphous quality of the sound that the artists present, amorphousness being a space of possibility for imagining new futures, amidst a reality with so many ecological and sociopolitical challenges. It is necessary to have spaces that enable collective imagination and promote freedom, leisure, and community,” said Alejandro Arturo (OVSICORI), co-curator of the festival.

Participating artists:

Atsub

Aye Villanueva + Ekaiodo Sono

Carla Alfaro & Lorela

Charly Fariseo

Chiquilles

Contradicta

Coro Municipal Escazú dirigido Por Albin Delgado Daniel Ortuño

Daniela Segura, David Ramírez, Carlos Avendaño Joan Villaperros

Nankima

Sergio Sasso

Sergio Wiesengrund

Sonora

XJ Marika

The Sonograma festival is part of the Ministry of Culture and Youth's (MCJ) "It's Time to Share" initiative, which welcomes the 2025 holiday season with a wide-ranging program of artistic and community celebrations taking place during November and December.

We invite you to be part of the first edition of SONOGRAMA, which will be held at El Tanque and La Pila de la Melaza at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, and will also have a venue at the Sendero cultural space, where artist Charly Fariseo invites us to a sonic dialogue with the plant world using real-time plant biodata to generate constantly evolving musical compositions.

Contact: Verónica Daniela Ramos Camareno, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, [email protected]

Contacto: Eunice Báez
Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo.
Correo: [email protected] .Teléfonos: 8872-0409 / 2223-6012