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“Paléficat” explores the uncertainty surrounding the future of a piece of land. It reflects the inevitability of a landscape’s transformation, the new face of which remains unknown to most. This likely signals the imminent disappearance of the last remnants of the market gardening belt of the Toulouse metropolis.

In this “agricultural pocket,” still irrigated by the Hers River but already encircled by buildings, bordered by the ring road, and crossed by the Boulevard Urbain Nord (BUN), an urban densification project is underway. Fields will be replaced by housing, and the city will fill in its empty spaces to welcome new residents soon in the Paléficat district.

This sound creation is part of a broader observatory project in the Paléficat district, supported by a LABEX research project (Laboratory of Excellence, operation 7) and led by the LISST research unit (Université Toulouse 2). It brings together researchers (geographers, urban planners, sociologists, etc.) and artists.

Within this framework of observation, perspectives are built, shaped, and conveyed through images and sounds. The sound creation Paléficat is particularly tied to the production of a research film, A Disappearance (Dir. Olivier Bories), which delves into an elderly resident’s emotional connection to, and eventual separation from, the landscape of his neighborhood.

Paléficat also exists as a concert performance in immersive 8.1 multiphonic sound.