Auris is Manchester’s new sound art focussed festival that takes place across Manchester. As part of this Dorkbot curated a tabletop maker-fair featuring artists, makers and creative technologists, with a focus on experimental sound, music and playful technology.

Lois McDonald presented her oracle, an experimental electronic interface exploring gestural interaction. Fiona Brehony, Katrin Losleben and Simon Knighton present Listening With Water, bringing together field recordings, experimental composition and listening practices exploring rivers, Arctic waters and urban environments. Billy Payne and David McFarlane from DMLab North West (Drake Music) showcase accessible musical instruments and prototypes designed for inclusive music-making. Freddy Mendoza showed work exploring the electrical conductivity of biological materials, transforming touch and contact with living matter into sound. Janet Douglas showed her work combining textiles, electronics, and sound. All this and Cristiana Palandri and KMR’s amazing instuments.

The rest of the festival was brilliant – Saturday included Signkid’s BSL performance; Hayley Suviste and Ryan Woods leading peaceful soundwalks through Castlefield; Lee Patterson’s; a Rubbish Music talk and using everyday objects; Matt Barnard talk on impulse response; and Francisco López’s sound work experience while blind folded.

Dorkbot MCR is a local network for artists, creative technologists, makers, designers, engineers and curious minds working with electronic art and technology.