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outer places :: inner voices

North Northumberland 2014-15

Where we belong ... exploring the emotional landscape of old age in a remote rural area.

outer places - inner voices poster

Working in partnership with Bell View, Belford, this installation was created during a six month project which involved writer Romi Jones and sound artist Geoff Sample. Under the banner “where we belong”, conversations and workshops were held with a diverse range of older people: some living in villages or farms, some have grown up here, some moved here for their love of this beautiful area. We explored themes of home, belonging, ageing, community, birds, landscape and the sea which some people have articulated in poetry, prose and short phrases. For many older people, their love of the landscape and the sea is the silent backdrop to their connections with family, friends and community which is of most importance in their daily lives.

Texts and sounds (4-channel surround) were installed as a show premiered at the Watchtower Gallery in Berwick-upon-Tweed in October 2015 - outer places :: inner voices.

Some 2-channel extracts.

The companionship of birds.

The down side.

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