Shambala Festival has joined forces with Uzbekistan’s Stihia Festival and In Place of War’s EarthSonic programme to launch Two Seas, an international project using electronic music to document two of the world’s most dramatic environmental transformations.
Quinn Whalley, co-founder of acclaimed UK electronic duo Paranoid London, travelled to both Uzbekistan and Finland to record the changing soundscapes of the dried-up Aral Sea and the melting Bothnian Bay, collaborating with local and Indigenous Sámi artists along the way. Supported by the British Council, the project brings together artists from the UK, Uzbekistan and Finland, with the resulting compositions set to premiere as a specially commissioned live audiovisual performance before being released globally alongside a documentary film.
In Muynak, Uzbekistan, once a thriving fishing port and now home to the famous “cemetery of ships” left behind by the retreating Aral Sea, Paranoid London worked with Uzbek artists to capture the sounds of wind sweeping the exposed seabed and the abandoned vessels left by one of the world’s greatest environmental disasters. The second chapter took place on the frozen coastline of Oulu, Finland, during the Frozen People Festival, where the duo recorded the sounds of Bothnian Bay as rising temperatures reshape one of Europe’s northernmost seas.
The project will culminate in a headline audiovisual performance at Shambala’s Data Mine venue, combining the new compositions with immersive visuals created by Matt Black of Coldcut/Ninja Tune and Ben Sheppee of The Observatory. The news follows Shambala’s confirmation that Paranoid London had already been added to its blockbuster 2026 line-up, alongside Luke Vibert, Om Unit and a UK-exclusive residency from CERN, as part of a second wave of over 80 acts revealed in April. Shambala 2026 runs from 27 to 30 August at Kelmarsh Hall and Gardens in Northamptonshire, having already sold out Tier 1 and Tier 2 tickets following its landmark transition to employee ownership earlier this year.
Alongside the artistic collaboration, Two Seas also functions as a practical exchange between three independent festivals and cultural organisations, focused on sharing expertise in sustainable festival production, community engagement and artist development for organisations operating in environmentally challenging regions.
Sidharth Sharma, Creative Director of Shambala Festival, said: “Shambala, EarthSonic and Stihia operate on the front lines of cultural response to a changing world. By bringing these worlds into dialogue, we aren’t just making music, we’re documenting a changing planet while sharing ideas that can help independent festivals adapt and thrive in the face of climate change.”
Odil Mukhamedov, Executive Producer of Stihia, added: “For Stihia, the Aral Sea, Muynak in particular, has always been more than a place; it is the reason our festival exists. Sharing this landscape with artists from East to West, and transforming its sounds into music, is a powerful reminder that nature connects us all, regardless of borders.”
Tom Sweet, Senior Music Relationship Manager at the British Council, said it had been “a privilege to help bring together respected Uzbek and UK cultural organisations” and support artists from both countries in responding to the environmental impact of the Aral Sea crisis. He added the hope that the partnerships formed during the project “continue and inspire further work raising environmental awareness through music and the wider arts”.
Following its premiere, the music created through Two Seas will be released via EarthSonic’s record label, accompanied by a documentary chronicling the collaboration and bringing the story of the Aral Sea and Bothnian Bay to audiences around the world. More information is available at earthsonic.org/two-seas, and tickets for Shambala are available via shambalafestival.org.
Image credits:
In this article: Shambala Festival, British Council, Uzbekistan, Finland, Aral Sea, Bothnian Bay Water District, Moynaq, Oulu, Coldcut, Ninja Tune, Sidharth Sharma, Om Unit, CERN, Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire. Generated by Wikidata Schema Link Builder.
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