‘Listening to Borders’ – Call for Contributions

Call for contributions to a new sonic work, exploring experiences of place, migration, displacement and borders. Contributions are invited in the form of voice recordings/speech (which can be made simply, using a phone), as well as music/song, and more abstract sounds from the environment or daily life.

Contributions could reflect on questions such as: What is the sound of home? What role do borders play in my everyday life and local community? What is my own experience of movement and belonging? Do other people’s borders touch me in any way?

Further thoughts, stories, experiences, and reflections on movement, place and displacement are also welcome.

The creation of this work coincides with the opening of an accommodation centre for asylum seekers at RAF Scampton, and contributions from within the Lincolnshire community are especially encouraged.

Created and curated by Celeste Cantor-Stephens, the piece will be broadcast publicly, and sounds submitted may be edited for length and suitability.

Contributions can be made simply, using a phone voice recorder, and emailed, along with any questions, to resonating.spaces@gmail.com

This work is commissioned by the University of Lincon’s Extra Sonic Practice research group, a group of scholars and artists who work with sound in multiple contexts and configurations, as part of Sounding Borders, a research and practice-led project that questions how borders are shaped, controlled and embodied through sound. Sounding Borders is supported by PEARL (Public Engagement for All with Research at Lincoln).

Celeste Cantor-Stephens is a musician, sound artist, writer and activist. Situated at an intersection of art and social justice, her current work explores experiences of displacement and borders, and the place of sound and music within this, This develops upon an MSt, an MPhil, and a period of creative development and research, supported by Arts Council England. Much of her work draws upon extensive research and active engagement at the Franco-British border.

Some of the recordings and work-in-progress will be presented at a listening and discussion event, held online, 6th July 16:00-17:30 BST. For details, visit: https://extrasonicpractice.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/sounding-borders-5-listening-to-borders/