Ex Tempore 1 was a site-specific musical commentary on the history of women in Kassel, in collaboration with the Archives of the German Women's Movement, the leading research institute in the country. Ex Tempore 2 was an artistic reaction to the post-9-11 political climate in the US, uniting musicians from Afghanistan, the US, and Germany, inspired in part by the artistic vision of curator Okwui Enwezor. Ex Tempore 3 built on those experiences with an even more global approach including Russian, Eritrean, Afghan, German and US musicians.

SonicExchange connected to all three previous projects. Fenster zum Hof, part of the former Red Light District, happens to reveal an unknown and largely unspoken part of Kassel's history: Fotomotel Wolf 53 host Pitze Eckart unconvered and documented memories of women who used to work in the building. Musicians from both Ex Tempore 2 and Ex Tempore 3 visited and participated in 2012.

As part of the Kassel Stadtprogramm, SonicExchange coincided with the 100 days of dOCUMENTA (13).