Protocols for collective listening is a three-part project exploring how listening can become more than simply hearing sounds—as a way of actively participating in communities and understanding the present. Drawing on three decades of Ultra-red’s work at the intersection of sound, activism, and education, the project transforms the Former Busan Nam High School into a space for shared learning and social exchange.

Protocols for collective listening consists of three interconnected components. The first unfolds through a series of large-scale posters featuring listening protocols. In one installation, a live microphone positioned outside the building continuously transmits the sounds of Busan into the classroom, inviting visitors to experience the familiar city from a different perspective. The second component takes the form of a publication that visitors can carry beyond the exhibition. The booklet offers practical tools for collective investigation that can be activated in different communities and contexts. The third component is a participatory workshop bringing together artists, organisers, and local communities to explore issues surrounding the development of Busan's coastline and surrounding islands through conversation and sound walks. Together, participants use listening as a method for understanding the relationships between place, history, and collective action.

Throughout the project, Ultra-red proposes listening not as a passive act of receiving sound, but as a collective practice of producing knowledge, discovering new ways to understand the world, and imagining shared futures.