This episode features a conversation with Arjan Rietveld, a writer and curator in the world of electronic music. Arjan is the founder of Field Records, which has released a string of experimental and artistically driven albums since the label was launched in 2008. In this discussion, Arjan introduces Waterworks, a multimedia project he spearheaded which catalogues the centuries-long history of Dutch hydraulic engineers working on water management in Japan. That catalogue primarily takes the form of an interactive map detailing over 50 projects across Japan during the Meiji Era. In addition to the map, the Waterworks project yielded a trilogy of albums exploring this history through a mixture of ambient music, environmental recordings, and experimental audio production. Listeners will hear selected excerpts in this episode, but all of the recordings, the interactive map, and more historical details are available on the project website: https://waterworksproject.nl/en.
","author_name":"International Institute for Asian Studies – IIAS"}