At 2000m above sea level, and just 3km from the Spanish border, the small, high altitude lake of the Etang Bleu is the source of the River Garbet. Fed primarily by melting snow/ice, and rain running off the dramatic basin of vertiginous peaks which surround it, the lake spills down the valley into the larger Etang du Garbet, which in turn cascades via a series of waterfalls, gorges and plateaus down to the village of Aulus-les-Bains. Downhill from Aulus, the growing river flows into the Salat, which in turn joins one of France's most important rivers, the Garonne, which grows as it flows through Toulouse, Bordeaux, and out into the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic ocean. The deepest point of the Bay of Biscay is 4735m below sea level, giving the waters of the Etang Bleu a total vertical descent of almost 7km.

The river has been instrumental in the history of the village, and the story of these valleys is woven around the flow of this epic mountain stream - it has supplied mines, forges and settlements for thousands of years, and it still supplies our electricity thanks to the small hydro-electric station above the village. The Garbet has made life possible here, and of course is inextricably linked to the five medically miraculous water sources which made Aulus-les-Bains famous in the early 1800s.

During this five-day landscape exploration, Jana Winderen will lead participants in tracing, listening, and recording in and around the Garbet. With our base at CAMP's facilities on the river's bank, we will record up and down the river, listening and exploring the acoustic environments of the forests, the valleys and the plateaus as the stream flows through them. An optional hike to the Etang Bleu will be followed by listening/recording trips out to the various stages of the river, with locations plotted to allow access for people of all hiking abilities.

We'll listen and record above and below the water's surface, and immerse ourselves (literally, if you want!) in the river's flow - the movement, the speed and depth, the temperature, the smell, the flora and fauna of the banks and riverbed. The weather in mid-October is usually still great, but as summer moves into autumn, the forest prepares for alpine winter, and native animal species bed in for the cold season on the mountain.

We'll spend four full days out in the landscape, both at night and in the day, exploring the river, before we focus on arranging what we've gathered into installations, playbacks and performances back at CAMP's facilities on the final day. Following the workshop, recordings will be collected and curated into a compilation release on CAMP Editions.

Jana Winderen is an artist based in Norway with a background in mathematics, chemistry and fish ecology. Her practice pays particular attention to audio environments and to creatures which are hard for humans to access, both physically and aurally – deep under water, inside ice or in frequency ranges inaudible to the human ear. Her activities include site-specific and spatial audio installations and concerts, which have been exhibited and performed internationally in major institutions and public spaces. Recent work includes Absent Voices for Haus der Kunst in Munich, The River for Natural History Museum in London, The Art of Listening: Underwater at Lenfest Center for the Arts, Colombia University, New York, Listening through the Dead Zones for IHME, Helsinki, The Art of Listening: Underwater for Audemar Piguet at Art Basel, Miami, Rising Tide at Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo, Listening with Carp for Now is the Time in Wuzhen, Through the Bones for Thailand Art Biennale in Krabi, bára for TBA21_Academy, Spring Bloom in the Marginal Ice Zone for Sonic Acts, Dive in Park Avenue Tunnel in New York and Ultrafield for MoMA, New York. In 2011 she won the Golden Nica at Ars Electronica for Digital Musics & Sound Art. She releases her audio-visual work on Touch (UK).

For a great introduction to Jana's practice, check out this BBC program on her work.



WHERE AND WHEN?

The course takes place at our residential centre in Aulus les Bains. It's two hours south of Toulouse, high in the French Pyrenees, very near the border with Spain. For detailed travel information, see the transport section. The course starts on Wednesday, October 15, 2025. We advise that you arrive the evening before (14/10/2025) - dinner and accommodation that night is included. The course runs for five days, ending on Sunday night. Accommodation on Sunday night is included, then we leave on Monday morning (20/10/2025). If you decide to take the minibus with us, you will be picked- up in Toulouse at 6pm on 14/10/2025, and will be back in Toulouse at 11am on 20/10/2025.

You'll also have the option to stay at CAMP an additional 7 nights, following the workshop, for an additional cost of €349. Hang out, do some hiking, use our facilities, work on your projects and process the content of the workshop at your own pace. In 2024, just over 50% of participants stayed for the +7. We expect that number to increase in 2025 - don't miss out on the extra fun! Read more about the +7 option here.

HOW TO BOOK

To book your place on the course, click the button in the green section above. You won't pay anything right now - we'll send you a booking confirmation email with everything you need to know next. Your place is reserved without payment for three days.

You'll find a payment link in the booking confirmation email - follow the link to make a payment (either in full, or the first payment of a 4 month payment plan). In the latter case, a monthly payment plan will be put in place, so your card will be charged 1/4 of the fee today, and 1/4 each month (on the same day) for an additional 3 months. All card payments are handled by Stripe, and are extremely secure. We don't store any card data ourselves - all of this is handled securely off-site by Stripe. If you have a discount or grant code, you will be able to add it when you follow the payment link in your confirmation email.

Once you've made a payment, you'll receive another email containing your receipt, links to resources, contact information and access to our group chat to discuss the workshop with other participants.