Nothing to Be Afraid of

The title tells us there’s “nothing to be afraid of”, inviting us to join in this mission to restore the land. Methodically and obstinately, a few women on plots of land flanking the sheer slopes repeat a sequence of actions: cutting, pruning, raking the ground until they come across something… then identifying and locating the mine to the sound of the detector’s beeps and wobulations. There’s no room for error, and hearing is reduced to its basic principle of attention. Variations in insignificant sounds cause extreme anxiety. We have to trust in the title and listen without fear to the continuum of noise in the close atmosphere of the work. The sudden sound of Velcro brings us to a face under a steamed-up visor. A dog barks at another threat in the distance, bringing us back to the world. Back at basecamp or during breaks, the small group gathers. This mostly female micro-society produces other variations: snorts of laughter, fits of giggles, whisperings, silent faces… As the days go by, some of the mines are removed, and a few feet of mine-free land are regained. This might sound derisory, but since the 2020 conflict, this rehabilitated zone is the only safe passage between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

François Waledisch
Sound Engineer