ME+Rome

ME+Rome is based on Rome’s ancient founding myth surrounding Romulus and Remus — a narrative of origin, violence, kinship, and power. This myth intertwines historical and fictional elements, forming the basis for a multi-perspective exploration of the city’s cultural identity.

Central figures include Romulus, Remus, Rhea Silvia, and the she-wolf Mamma Lupa. Through shifting and often conflicting perspectives, their voices recount the city's emergence.

At the beginning, participants choose one of ten figures, selecting a specific narrative perspective. Within the shared space, the parallel audio tracks interweave into a collective perception resembling a montage.

Audio Teaser · 38 seconds
Excerpt from the audio track of ME+Rome / Romulus
(German / English / Italian mixed).
Wearing headphones is recommended, as the recording is binaural and the spatial listening experience is best enjoyed in 3D sound.

The audio installation is activated in temporally structured runs. At the beginning, each participant receives a numbered wireless headset assigned to a specific narrative perspective. Audio tracks are available in German, Italian, or English.

During each approximately twelve-minute run, participants listen simultaneously within the same space. Through spatial proximity, overlaps and resonances emerge, enabling deliberate co-listening of other voices while maintaining individual perspectives.

After the sequence ends, the space is reset and prepared for the next group.

The audio installation is activated by minimal performative interventions. These actions are not representational, but rather, they structure the listening situation by facilitating entry into the space, arranging participants, and shifting between individual and collective perception.

The installation employs reduced visual elements, including simple props, subtle video projections, and a mobile VR headset. The visual layer is deliberately fragmentary and subordinate to the audio work.

The VR headset offers an immersive, brief glimpse of a central location within the narrated myth and provides a spatial reference that extends the listening experience.

ME+Rome was developed in 2017 during a residency at the German Academy in Rome, Villa Massimo. The project emerged from an exploration of family structures, origins, and cultural identity in the context of Rome and its myths.

ME+Rome marks the beginning of the ongoing ME+ series, in which text-driven audio installations are developed as multi-perspective, spatially situated listening experiences.

• Year: 2017
• Format: Text-driven audio installation with performative activation
• Venue: Villa Massimo, Rome (premiere); Gropius Bau, Berlin (guest performance)
• Presentation: Repeated runs over several days
• Text: 10 figures / 10 monologues
• Duration: approx. 12 minutes
• Languages: German, Italian, or English (choice per participant)

This is an interactive, 360° view of the space in which the listening situation unfolds. The panorama shows the studio from a tilted perspective, with the floor appearing above. A black outline marks the absence of a body.

In the narrative world of ME+Rome, the space becomes an echo of conflict, shifting the perception of the site, memory, and myth.

• Idea & concept: KubelíkGoetzke
• Text & sound design: Tarik Goetzke
• Set design & video: Anna Kubelík
• Production: German Academy in Rome – Villa Massimo
• Photos: Sabrina Knierim

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