At the start of the year, the Tour du Valat was delighted to welcome the artist and filmmaker Verena Paravel as part of her research and creative project, Cosmofonia. This residency involved discussions and field recordings in the heart of the Camargue wetlands, in close collaboration with the Tour du Valat’s scientific teams.
This journey led to the creation of Delta, a film currently on display at LUMA Arles [1]until 31 March 2027. This immersive installation builds on an artistic and scientific research, centred on listening to living organisms and natural environments.
An exploration of the invisible sounds of the living world
Through sound-recording devices and an approach that blends cinema, ecology and anthropology, Verena Paravel seeks to make audible sound realities that are usually inaccessible to the human ear: infrasound vibrations, interspecies signals, resonances in aquatic environments and the acoustic traces of human activity. The work transforms these sounds into a sensory experience and invites us to consider the environment not as a backdrop, but as a living set of relationships.
A partnership-based fieldwork
From October 2025 to January 2026, Verena Paravel collaborated with the Tour du Valat as part of her research into the inaudible sounds of ecosystems.
Accompanied by various specialists, she joined them on their fieldwork to observe the different species found in the Rhône Delta and to document the soundscapes in which they live. In particular, she accompanied Anthony Olivier during night-time population monitoring of Western Spadefoot toads [2], and Philippe Lambret during odonate population monitoring in the temporary ponds of the Camargue. [3]
Presented as a monumental eight-metre-long projection accompanied by a multi-channel sound installation, Delta offers an immersive experience of the Camargue’s many sensory dimensions. Make sure you don’t miss it!
Click here to view the information on the LUMA Arles website. [4]