“A beautiful mash up of space, geology, archaeology and sound. And a collaboration full of heart and possibility”
A socially engaged sound art project and exhibition from the young people of Whitehawk and East Brighton, and artist Simon James, who was born and raised in Whitehawk.
Overlooking Whitehawk Estate to the East and the rest of the city to the West sits Whitehawk Hill, a species-rich chalk grassland visible from far and wide and easily distinguishable with its TV mast and the grandstand for Brighton Racecourse.
In 1932, Cecil Curwen and a team of archaeologists and labourers used sound and listening through an early geophysical technique called ‘Bosing’, to reveal a 5500-year-old Neolithic camp here, and although much is uncertain about how this 'Causewayed Enclosure' was used, we do know that it was a place of communion, celebration, and ritual - a place for people to connect.
95 years later, a group of young Whitehawk sound artists have listened to and sounded the contemporary environment of East Brighton, using the Whitehawk Hill Neolithic Camp as a focal point and inspiration for their sonic explorations.
The sounds they have uncovered and created are presented here as a looping 20-minute multi-speaker collage, a contemporary artefact that sits alongside finds, illustrations, plans and reports from Cecil Curwen and colleagues’ archaeological excavations.
In this compassionate listening space we hope the imaginative and fantastical sounds will invite deep listening to an area that can often be considered hidden and unheard.
“Go for the stones and drones and then discover the power deep listening holds and the possibilities when all children are given opportunities to flourish. ”
It was great, such high production value and important subject matter - Fantastic, smart, experimentally refreshing and sincerely socially engaged - Resonated with me and inspired a feeling of deep personal connection - One of the best sound/art installations i've ever seen. I feel transformed and moved and see Brighton differently now - Genuinely co-created groundbreaking work that places local voices centrally and is creatively such high-quality - One of the most impactful things I have seen in recent memory
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It was great, such high production value and important subject matter - Fantastic, smart, experimentally refreshing and sincerely socially engaged - Resonated with me and inspired a feeling of deep personal connection - One of the best sound/art installations i've ever seen. I feel transformed and moved and see Brighton differently now - Genuinely co-created groundbreaking work that places local voices centrally and is creatively such high-quality - One of the most impactful things I have seen in recent memory 〰️
Review by Angus Carlyle. Professor of Sound and Landscape at UAL
Centred around a circle of speakers on the ceiling and circles on the floor mapping the contours of a vast and ancient ritual space in what is now Whitehawk, this have-to-see Brighton Festival exhibition by my friend Simon James and activist organisation Class Divide traces the complex yet common grounds that can be bridged between archaeology, deep listening, social inequity and an engaged inflection of sound practice that makes stars of an incredibly committed group of 11-14 year olds whose delicate speaker feedback experiments, synthesiser workouts, vocal improv, chalk scores and field recordings form the soundtrack to the installation (with an archaeology tool providing huge sub-bass in the new Lighthouse Project Space).
Glowing on one wall is the film by Curtis James composed of objects from the ‘pre-historical’ site, cymatic sequences, LIDAR, drone footage, archival diagrams and photographs (examples of all of these are present in vitrines or in the beautifully designed materials by Emily Macaulay).
The context of the campaign for re-balancing educational opportunity in Brighton is also given space in the show - some of the greatest inequalities attach to the same area that was the Neolithic site and it is from a school there that come the amazing sound artists who collaborated with Simon.
A Class Divide production, directed by Simon James, commissioned by Brighton Festival and produced in partnership with Lighthouse.
Sound artists
Amelia
Amy
Gracie-May
Harry
Izzy
Leonie
Ieuan
Sophia
Tassia
Additional sound design
Simon James
Creative Direction for Class Divide and video projections
Curtis James
Exhibition design
Emily Macaulay
Exhibition Production and support at Lighthouse
Lucie Rachel
Lydia Durnall
Alli Bedoes
Bobby Brown
Niamh Hicks
Monica Namu
Drone footage
Gareth Rees
Partners
Archaeology South East/UCL
Brighton and Hove Museums
The Crew Club
Workshop Support
Liz Rose
Rachel Pearce
Photo and artefact credits
Brighton and Hove Museums
Jane Russell
John Funnell
Brighton & Hove Archaeological Society
The Keep
Curtis James
Funders
Brighton Festival
Chalk Cliff Trust
Necessity
Thanks to
Artist’s parents
Carlie Goldsmith
Jon Sygrave
Dan Robertson
Clair Freeman
Grant Williams
LOM Microphones for generous donations
Lacie Snow and the team at The Crew Club
David Parfitt
Angus Carlyle
Longhill School
BACA School