Bambino Sound System performing at Unsound 2011 as captured by ZFCL Films.
Sound Postcards
During 60s and 70s communism in Poland, at a time when vinyl records were hard to get, sound postcards became popular. Pressed by both official state firms and small independent companies on cardboard and cheap plastic, the quality of their mono recordings was low, but they gave Poles access to hit songs from the West and local classics. Sound postcards were usually played on portable records players, most notably the legendary Bambino manufactured by Unitra Fonica. In the early 80s, sound postcards cards were replaced by cassette technology.
exhibition & bambinos
Our aim is to give this forgotten Polish art form and cultural artifact the attention that it deserves. We do this via exhibitions of sound postcards with designs ranging from the strikingly stylish to the outright weird, as well as Bambino Sound System performances, where damaged sound postcards are played on portable Bambino record players in unique "DJ" sets. Our expanding collection is also being archived online, and will eventually be turned into a book.
collaboration
This project is run by Mat Schulz, the Krakow-based director of Unsound Festival, and Portuguese graphic designer Rui Silva from Alfaiataria.