Choral Piece
In at Midnight & Away at Morning: The Uninvited GuestAn immersive sound and light installation co-createdby artist Sara Walmsley and the participants of the BluePrint project. This poetic reflection, whichincludes sonification of historic and predicted rainfall data, draws on the lived experience of two communities who, in having to deal with the realities of flooding, are already learning to live with theimpacts of climate change.
An 8-month artistic co-creation process included creative workshops and interviews, this piece weaves together the voices and sounds that tell the stories oftwo devastating flood events that affected the peopleand places of Eglinton and Newtownstewart in 2017and 2022.
It includes melodic, polyphonic harmonies of St. Eugene’s Church choir as they give music to the wordsof members of their community whose homes were destroyed and lives endangered by flood water. A play, performed by the Visible, Invisible and Self, takes us on a narrative journey through a community which saw their joyful totems of leisure and togetherness tumbled and sodden by a beloved natural element turned wild. A poem, written and performed by those who witnessed the rolling in of a suddenand unexpected storm, represents the voices of the key actors in a devastating event - the flooding victims, the wider community, and the river itself.
The installation highlights the voices of those striving to adapt to our changing climate, those who are responding to the urgency by finding solace, hope, strength and courage in the unending and unsurprising resilience and creativity of our communities.
Listen to an extract As our climate changes at a rapidly accelerating rate, the NorthWest of the island of Ireland is particularly vulnerable to an increased frequency of devastating flood events.
We invite you not just to listen, but to act and demand change that will protect our climate into the future.
Listen to an extract here.