900 Voices is a sound art project which has been created entirely from recorded conversations with people who live across the city of Edinburgh to mark the 900th anniversary of St Giles’ Cathedral.
The conversations revolve around themes of belonging, connection and community with the sound installation revealing and blending moments from the recordings. The project is being created by Zoë Irvine with Lindsay Perth and Jules Rawlinson.
As listeners walk around the Cathedral they will have a unique selection of the voices selected and played to them from the 46 speakers set around the Cathedral. No two performances will be the same – so there is no reason for explaining the sound at Monday night’s opening event as it will be completely different when a new audience attends.
This event 900 Voices will also be part of the Edinburgh International Book Festival when Zoë, Lindsay, and Jules will discuss their experiences of gathering and composing the community’s conversations, exploring the incredibly diverse experiences and meaning that belonging, community and connection can hold.
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/900-voices-conversations-on-belonging
St Giles’ became a cathedral 900 years ago at the same time as Edinburgh became a city.
The recording process will keep going throughout 2024, with each new recording added to the database, and from September to November 900 will be open to the public every Wednesday 4 – 6pm. The work will continue to grow with community events, more recordings, and a finishing event in December.
900voices.org
https://www.eif.co.uk/events/900-voices
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
