Maria Arnal

Maria Arnal is a Catalan singer, composer and experimental artist, whose work is driven by a deep interest in the inner voice. Is the inner voice merely a stream of self-directed verbal thoughts unfolding in our minds? Or is the inner voice a cognitive tool that first originates in the mind and little by little finds a place in the tongue, in the lungs? Using traditional Iberian music with avant-garde pop and electronic elements, Arnal has developed a technique that allows her to reflect on a song in the same way we would reflect on ourselves and understand our identity and place in the world. In other words, her singing embodies a stream of consciousness, beautifully expressing and exposing the tension between the inner voice and external reality, allowing her to deliver voice-expanding performances that push the boundaries of traditional singing and integrate technology, ancient knowledge and instruments, interdisciplinary collaboration and new forms of expression into her performances.

Maria Arnal's contribution to The Oracle is a series of songs specifically made for the exhibition's opening ritual and visitors' first passage through the different venues. To open the exhibition with a singing voice, a voice that states its presence and, per default, the presence of all our voices, stresses the importance of a form of transmission that transcends the verbal function. As Arnal's singing presence moves from venue to venue, it tells us how song becomes voice, where personal and social identity takes shape, and the control of the voice emerges as a form of power. The power that we need to regenerate the bonds with each other through the tone, pitch, speed, volume and emotional states that inhabit the voice.

Albums and major releases: 45 cerebros y 1 corazón (2017); Clamor (2021); Aria (2021); Polvo Serán (original motion picture soundtrack, 2024).