Biennale Son returns to Sion with expanded sound art program

The second edition of Biennale Son, a Swiss festival dedicated to sound in contemporary art, will run from August 30 to November 30, 2025, in Sion and surrounding areas. Directed by Jean-Paul Felley, the event has expanded from six weeks to three months, featuring over 100 artists across venues including Centrale, La Grange, La Grenette, Valais Art Museum, Lemme, and a former prison. New this year is the first Vinyl Art Fair (September 13-14), curated by Fabio Carboni and Sara Serighelli of Soundohm, showcasing artist vinyls, CDs, and books. Highlights include Pierre Leguillon's exhibition at Manoir de Martigny with works from Musée des Erreurs (Brussels), Musée du Son/Fondation Guex–Joris (Martigny), and Centre Pompidou (Paris); Philippe Quesne's installation Insomniacs co-produced with Centre Pompidou, Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne, and Vivarium Studio; Soundwalk Collective's Invisible Landscape; Lawrence Abu Hamdan's Earwitness Inventory (95 objects from Frac Franche-Comté); and John Armleder's No Instruction (Hommage à John Cage). Associate curator Maxime Guitton (music historian at Marseille's Beaux-Arts Academy) joins Felley. Felley describes the Valais canton as a laboratory where sound bounces between landscape and city.