The Attenborough Centre is set to be turned into a watery world, full of dance and intrigue in this year’s Brighton Festival. An immersive event that promises to uncover a hidden dimension that is near, but so far away.
Soundings is a three-screen film installation with live dance. This expansive portrait of the deep sea, as seen through multiple lenses, asks how we might connect with a space most of us will never experience first-hand.
Conceived as a response to the intensifying global debates on deep-sea mining for minerals of the seabed, this compelling work is a commentary on how, the ways in which we imagine, portray and talk about the deep-sea become fundamental to how we relate to and subsequently govern this space.
From an intimate encounter between a dancer and a deep-sea creature to ancient stories about our innate connection to this space; from the first maps of abyssal plains to the voices of Pacific activists, this kaleidoscopic portrayal delves into our understanding of the deep and the nuanced debates surrounding mining the seafloor.
On certain days during the exhibition (Friday 16 & Saturday 17 May), a dancer will activate the installation by encountering and moving with the creatures on the screens.
Included in the installation is a co-written open letter: Rights of the Deep, a contribution to the growing Rights of Nature movement. This letter brings together indigenous Pacific activists, legal scholars and marine scientists to co-write an open letter about our relationship with the deep-ocean and the need to protect it.
Accompanying this event is Walk to the Bottom of the Sea, a 7-mile artist-led coastal walk, symbolising the ocean’s deepest depth, with speakers sparking conversations at key points marking different ocean zones.
