The Hidden City consists of 15 sound portraits of the city of Gothenburg by artists featured in the book "The Hidden City, People and Places in Gothenburg", or artists who have an interesting relationship with certain places or addresses in Gothenburg...

The book, published by Glänta Produktion, an independent book and magazine publisher based in Gothenburg, is an exploration of the open and hidden perspectives of the north European harbour town by journalist and writer Magnus Haglund and photographer Stefan Schneider. Through 28 chapters and 40 colour photographs they investigate the cultural and political life of Gothenburg, from 1850, through the industrial period, to contemporary challenges and transformations.

The record, just like the book, is a collage of the city. Created by artists such as Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai) who contributes with a remix/complete reconstruction of Opus 1, Party by the Gothenburg composer Rune Lindblad (Lindbland (1923-1991) is interviewed in the book in the chapter concerning the history of the Radium record label, run by Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Ulrich Hillebrand in the 1980s). And DJ/musician Christoffer Berg (here under the name Christoffer Brus) who creates here a soundportrait of a small pond, photographed by Schneider in the book, and written about in a small passage as a possible location for the famous haiku by Zen poet Basho ("The old pond/frog jumps in/splash!"). Christina Kubisch, a sound artist from Berlin, has made a recording of the old 18th century mechanical carillon in the belfry of the Christina church. Minimalist composer Peter Hansen has painted a picture of the frozen winter landscape in the archipelago of Gothenburg in his chamber orchestra piece Winter Air.

Why is Gothenburg an interesting place? It’s a city with a specific cosmo-political history where, for example, the East Indian Company started in 1731, had its base, and through its trading a lot of the wealth and property of the country, had its upswing in the 18th and 19th centuries. The culture of trading meant an atmosphere of independence and a sense of both belonging and not belonging to the Swedish state. This is reflected in the Gothenburg version of the liberal tradition, something which is investigated and makes up part of the book: what does this social liberalism mean today, when it is confronted with the multicultural situation and political tensions, like the riots during the EU summit meeting in June 2001?

To transform, to question, to dream in new patterns: this is one of the themes of the book. Through conversations with writers and politicians, DJs and historians, and through situationist-inspired walks through the city, the complexity of the town - which had quite a solid identity but now is interestingly insecure - is outlined and elicited. From the old city to the young one, through industrial areas and electronic soundscapes, the miscellaneous character comes through, the productive oppositions. The city disturbs us.