Listening across class divide

MIAAW.net

Sound artist and composer Simon James reflects on his recent project with young people in Whitehawk, initiated as part of the Class Divide campaign - fighting against the educational attainment gap in East Brighton. Sounds recorded during workshops, both on the Whitehawk housing estate and on an adjacent archaeological site, formed part of the exhibition Neolithic Cannibals: Deep Listening to the Unheard. Neolithic Cannibals recreated the Neolithic Camp - a place of communion, celebration, and ritual - as a compassionate listening space inviting audiences to discover Whitehawk's richness, joy, playfulness, and hope, empowering local voices through rarely explored sonic expressions. Simon discusses the process of the project, and how listening played a central part throughout it.