Transmissions
Voicing The Archive
Hannah Kemp-Welch (UK 2021)
Hannah Kemp-Welch (UK 2021)
29 min
During the pandemic, artist Hannah Kemp-Welch was in-residence at the Women’s Art Library, based at Goldsmiths. Reaching out to community groups in New Cross, Hannah photocopied and collated packs of ephemera from artists' projects documented in the library and posted these to local residents. Seven women selected an artist from the archive and responded to their work, recording personal reflections as they looked through materials. This audio essay considers access to archives, and how voices can bring the Women’s Art Library to life.
Produced by Hannah Kemp-Welch
Not Just Any Bush
Helene Thomas (AU 2020)
Helene Thomas (AU 2020)
17 min
Randal Morrison is a third generation Huon Piner. He lives in Strahan, Tasmania. Helene met Randal at his saw mill in Queenstown and as they talked he reminisced about his times as a young boy going out with his father to the banks of the Gordon River to collect Huon Pine logs.
The Wayfinder is a mobile recording studio designed and built in Tasmania. It is a professional sound booth with acoustic insulation properties and has been carefully designed to make people feel comfortable and relaxed and conducive to conversation. It was an idea born from the imagination of its creator, Helene Thomas. Inspiration has been drawn from the US initiative StoryCorps and the BBC’s The Listening Project, where stories are preserved in order to build connections between people.
Produced by Helene Thomas
Radio Ballad: Song of a Road (1959)
Ewan McColl, Peggy Seeger, Charles Parker (1959)
Ewan McColl, Peggy Seeger, Charles Parker (UK 1959)
59 min
This new revolutionary format - radio ballad (BBC) conceived by folk musicians Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, and the brilliant radio documentary maker Charles Parker in 1958, combining sound: songs, instrumental music, sound effects, and, most importantly, the recorded voices of those who are the subjects of the documentary. This had never been done before, and still sounds incredibly fresh today.
This Radio Ballad is a musical journey along the M1 as it was being built in the late 50’s.
Producer: Charles Parker
Music: Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger
Listen to more Radio Ballads
Doing Bird
Steve Urquhart (UK 2022)
Steve Urquhart (UK 2022)
20min Episode 1 of 2
Inmates at HMP Perth engage with archive birdsong and oral history recordings from the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club in a unique, creative audio art collaboration. Peesweeps meet hip hop beats, grouse unlock coded prison language, and an unhatched kestrel chick provokes philosophy.
Engaging with Scotland's archive birdsong recordings encourages the men to recall positive memories, to spark creativity, to reflect on the purpose of prison, and to re-evaluate their connection to the world beyond prison walls. They also think deeply about the accessibility and value of oral history recordings, and about who gets to be involved.
Produced by Steve Urquhart
‘Doing Bird’ is supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
Tape Letters: A Cassette Tape Love Story
Modus Arts (UK 2021)
Modus Arts (UK 2021)
15min Episode 3 of 6
Tape Letters shines a light on the practice of recording and sending messages on cassette tapes by Pakistani migrants who settled in the UK between 1960 and 1980. In this six-part documentary we listen to first-hand accounts of these migration stories through original recordings, interviews with their Britain-born families and commentary by Tape Letters founder and director Wajid Yaseen.
This episode features a special story of a soon-to-be-married couple, who got to know each other more deeply and fell in love entirely through sending cassette tapes to each other between Pakistan and the UK for over 5 years. Telephones were usually expensive and not private, which is why cassettes were their chosen method of communication. We also discuss the retention and loss of cassette tapes, and therefore stories, over the years as people either held onto tapes for sentimental or evidential reasons or threw them away as they simply looked to do some spring cleaning.
Presented by Wajid Yassen (Modus Arts)
Production and Sound Design Oliver Sanders
Listen to the series
Time and Tide Museum : Migration, Heritage and Belonging
Oliver Payne at Eastern Ear. (UK 2021)
Oliver Payne at Eastern Ear (UK 2021)
29 min Episode 2 of 6
Podcast featuring Dr Sarah Lowndes of Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth, interviewing members of the town's migrant communities. The podcast features excerpts from interviews with 30 people from first, second and third generation migrant communities in Great Yarmouth including people from China, Cyprus, East Timor, France, Germany, Ivory Coast, Lithuania, Madeira, Mozambique, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Russia, all of whom have made Great Yarmouth their home.
Produced by Oliver Payne from Eastern Ear
Radio Ballad: On The Edge (1963)
BBC (1963)
Ewan McColl, Peggy Seeger, Charles Parker (UK 1963)
59 min
This new revolutionary format - radio ballad (BBC) conceived by folk musicians Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, and the brilliant radio documentary maker Charles Parker in 1958, combining sound: songs, instrumental music, sound effects, and, most importantly, the recorded voices of those who are the subjects of the documentary. This had never been done before, and still sounds incredibly fresh today.
This Radio Ballad explores the lives of teenagers in the 1960’s with voices of young people from all over the UK. If you’ve seen C’mon C’mon where Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny a radio journalist touring the US to talk to teens, this piece sounds even more ahead of its time.
Producer: Charles Parker
Music: Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger
Listen to more Radio Ballads
Edgeland
Hayley Suviste (UK 2021)
Hayley Suviste (UK 2020)
24 min
As Manchester’s streets and skyline are warped by the ever-accelerating process of urban renewal, the city’s edgelands and green spaces are at risk of being swallowed by waves of property development. Not only does this raise questions about the ecology of the city, as carbon sinks are flattened and wildlife is displaced, but it speaks to broader trends pushing urban residents away from shared space, community and local identity.
This project shines a light on these spaces and the activists, academics, and local people who have taken up the daunting fight against corporate interests in the city in the name of biodiversity, urban ecology and community wellbeing. As we are faced with crises of both environment and mental health, the role of public green spaces has become ever more crucial in the eyes of those who enjoy, nurture, and maintain them
Hayley Suviste is a sound artist and composer based in Manchester (UK). She works with field recordings, archival material, electronic hardware, and live instrumentation to create long-form compositions, sonic installations, and multimedia art projects. Inspired by folk traditions and oral histories, Hayley is interested in the role of sound and voice in constructing and reproducing cultural identities and socio-historical narratives and how new compositional technologies can engage communities with overlooked stories about their environments.
Produced by Hayley Suviste
Commsioned by HCMF
High Street Tales - A Reading of London Street
Aundre Goddard and Richard Bentley - High Street Tales (UK 2021)
Aundre Goddard and Richard Bentley (UK 2021)
32 min
Ok this is technically a location based sound walk of London Street in Reading but it’s an engaging listen even at a distance. (Some of the historical dramatised parts are a little wooden but entertaining none-the-less)
Artists Aundre Goddard and Richard Bentley’s sound walk ‘A Reading of London Street’ tells the story of the community at the heart of London Street bringing London Street’s history to life and capturing its unique identity.
This is part of High Street Sound Walks, a series of self-guided, immersive sound walks to help people discover the magic of their local high streets for Heritage Open Days.
Produced by Aundre Goddard and Richard Bentley for High Street Sound Walks a commission by Historic England, National Trust and Heritage Open Days with support from the players of People’s Postcode Lottery and produced by Sound UK.
Ridley Road
May Robson - History Workshop (UK 2021)
May Robson (UK 2021)
19 min
Ridley Road Market has been around for almost 140 years and has been described as a “hub of connection, interconnections and social interaction”. Historically and today, the market is run by and for diverse communities and forms a public space which is political. Like many markets, however, Ridley Road is at risk from "regeneration", gentrification, and social cleansing.
May Robson works with Tamara Stoll a photographer and oral historian n who works in Ridley Road Market and is part of the Save Ridley Road campaign to speak to local residents' memories of Ridley Road's anti-fascist history and about the struggles that market traders face today - from gentrification to lockdown.