wellbeing
through online and in-person encounters we foster mindful connection with the soundscape by exploring listening and our responses to sounds and silence.
Painting of Silent Space by Therese Lawlor
Oasis Garden Silent Space
September 2023
In September 2023 we supported the launch of a Silent Space in the wellbeing garden at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. The space centres around the pond in the garden, offering hospital staff and volunteers the opportunity to rest and reflect, supported by the sights, smells and sounds of nature.
ICU Staff Workshops
April to June 2021
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, local ICU staff at the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust participated in a programme of contemplative listening sessions. Integrating mindfulness practices, the staff creatively explored the soundscape of gardens, ruins, canals and historic buildings through listening exercises, field recording, photography, drawing, nature immersion and music-making.
Wychwood Forest Soundscape
May 2021
A dawn chorus recording at the beautifully peaceful nature reserve at Wigwell Nature Reserve in Charlbury. Recorded in support of the Wychwood Forest Trust which works with local communities to protect and restore the spaces once part of the historic Wychwood Forest in the Cotswolds AONB.
#soundsofourtown
May to July 2020
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The quiet of the Covid-19 lockdown, brought into focus some of the small sounds we love to hear but may have not had chance to appreciate. The ‘Sounds of Our Town’ project got local people thinking about and sharing their favourite local sounds and the way they make them feel.
silence | absence
September 2019
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A live arts exhibition by a range of local artists in response to the ‘silence’ of a space at the Broad Street Mall shopping centre in Reading. Twelve artists working in different disciplines as diverse as sketching, woodcut, photography, knitting, sculpture and modular synthesis fashioned work from the silence. Visitors were invited to experience the creation of the work first-hand. The day after, the work remained in situ, incomplete, as a still life, a memory of the creative processes undertaken.
#smallsilence
May to September 2019
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#smallsilence invites people to observe moments of stillness in their day, capture them in a social media-sized post and share them with others using the #smallsilence tag. The project aimed to encourage participants to engage with everyday quiet and inspire others to do the same.
Contemplative Listening Workshop
October 2018
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A morning of contemplative listening exploring our responses to the silence of Reading Friends Meeting House. The workshop included a familiarisation exercise, awareness of the body in the body, a soundwalk, exploring object's sonic history, sound gatha creation, field recording and a time of sharing.
