“Their story begins on ground level, with footsteps”
Michel de Certeau: Walking in the City
SoundRoutes
from Band on the Wall.
A cross-arts exploration of the sights, sounds, history and heritage of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
The Schools; The Northern Quarter;
Crab Lane Primary School Oldham Street
St Annes RC Primary School Canals, Water & Warehouses
Birchfields Primary School Craft Market
Webster Primary School Fish Market
Wilbraham Primary School Thomas St
St Clements Primary School Band on the Wall
Oswald Rd Primary School Dwellings
Medlock Primary School Police Museum
Crosslee Primary School Stevenson Square
Led and facilitated by Tim Chatterton and Dave Hulston with additional musical input from Jules Gibb, Leon Pattel, Caroline Churchill. Historical research by Steve Little.
What lies beneath the surface of Manchester’s ever changing urban landscape? How do we perceive, use, and appreciate our immediate environment? What response does this city centre district, with its rich diverse history and heritage elicit from workers residents and visitors?
These are the questions at the heart of this ambitious outreach project that launches Band On the Wall’s new Learning & Participation Programme.
The work comprises two exhibits:
The first is a collection of nearly 300 multi-layered books created by children from 10 Manchester Primary Schools. They record a journey through a small part of the area of Manchester City Centre known as the Northern Quarter. Inspiration was drawn from sketches, rubbings, photographs and journey poems in the style of environmental artist Richard Long.
The second is an audio-visual installation that uses multi-tracked and edited sound recordings made by children of sounds and voices (recognisable and abstract), of music recorded on location at Band on the Wall and in school. This forms the soundtrack to photographic montages of the art-work, poetry, urban environments and historical images.
"If the uniqueness of the Northern Quarter is not cherished, future generations will be unable to place themselves in a historical continuum, measure the present against the past, or feel a sense of identity and belonging.”
Julian Holder; Manchester's Northern Quarter, The greatest meer village. pub English Heritage and MCC
The Process;
Over two and a half days pupils learned new skills and techniques across a range of disciplines and implemented existing skills in unusual and creative contexts. These included:
Artistic and musical composition, singing and vocal soundscapes, explorations of rhythm and timbre, sound recording and music technology. They developed their listening skills and literacy by looking at, hearing, and writing about their environment in new and unconventional ways.
Michel de Certeau: Walking in the City
SoundRoutes
from Band on the Wall.
A cross-arts exploration of the sights, sounds, history and heritage of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.
The Schools; The Northern Quarter;
Crab Lane Primary School Oldham Street
St Annes RC Primary School Canals, Water & Warehouses
Birchfields Primary School Craft Market
Webster Primary School Fish Market
Wilbraham Primary School Thomas St
St Clements Primary School Band on the Wall
Oswald Rd Primary School Dwellings
Medlock Primary School Police Museum
Crosslee Primary School Stevenson Square
Led and facilitated by Tim Chatterton and Dave Hulston with additional musical input from Jules Gibb, Leon Pattel, Caroline Churchill. Historical research by Steve Little.
What lies beneath the surface of Manchester’s ever changing urban landscape? How do we perceive, use, and appreciate our immediate environment? What response does this city centre district, with its rich diverse history and heritage elicit from workers residents and visitors?
These are the questions at the heart of this ambitious outreach project that launches Band On the Wall’s new Learning & Participation Programme.
The work comprises two exhibits:
The first is a collection of nearly 300 multi-layered books created by children from 10 Manchester Primary Schools. They record a journey through a small part of the area of Manchester City Centre known as the Northern Quarter. Inspiration was drawn from sketches, rubbings, photographs and journey poems in the style of environmental artist Richard Long.
The second is an audio-visual installation that uses multi-tracked and edited sound recordings made by children of sounds and voices (recognisable and abstract), of music recorded on location at Band on the Wall and in school. This forms the soundtrack to photographic montages of the art-work, poetry, urban environments and historical images.
"If the uniqueness of the Northern Quarter is not cherished, future generations will be unable to place themselves in a historical continuum, measure the present against the past, or feel a sense of identity and belonging.”
Julian Holder; Manchester's Northern Quarter, The greatest meer village. pub English Heritage and MCC
The Process;
Over two and a half days pupils learned new skills and techniques across a range of disciplines and implemented existing skills in unusual and creative contexts. These included:
Artistic and musical composition, singing and vocal soundscapes, explorations of rhythm and timbre, sound recording and music technology. They developed their listening skills and literacy by looking at, hearing, and writing about their environment in new and unconventional ways.
Over a 3 month period we worked with 8 schools exploring the Northern Quarter of Manchester. Our aim was to capture it's essence, map out its history, capture its resonances.
we interviewed residents, walked it's forgotten alleys and recorded.
Sound, mood, textures, lines, images and memories.
the streets of the Northern Quarter are rich with the diverse fabric of Manchester life; the birth of industry the passing of centuries, transience, change, and re-invention.
