Soundwalks

A soundwalk is any excursion whose main purpose is listening to the environment. It is exposing our ears to every sound around us no matter where we are. Hildegard Westerkamp

Soundwalking practice is key to my creative process. It is used both as research method (along with interviews, sound and other forms of field recordings) and as a form of creative practice. I have organised dozens of group soundwalks over the past ten years. Aside from the many co-created with students at Gray’s School of Art and Aberdeen Music Department, I created a route in Huntly as part of a conference on acoustic ecology organised by the Deveron Arts Project in 2019. In 2020, I led a socially-distanced walk during the Covid pandemic, that explored Aberdeen’s River Dee and the harbour. In 2023, I led a soundwalk of Sarajevo’s lived memory sites from the siege of the 1990s, as part of the summer school of KUMA International, an organisation focused on post-conflict studies.

For the last two years, I have collaborated on a project led by the London School of Economics in Aberdeen, exploring a local site threatened by plans for an Energy Transition Zone. This involved those living in affected communities alongside a wider cohort of participants. The project is led by Gisa Weszkalnys and curated by Rachel Grant. More about the project you can find here.