SONGSTREETS
Download SONGSTREETS accessed through AswarmXR’s mobile app (Google play for Android) (App Store for iOS), and go on an immersive audio walk through the streets and culture of Brixton. Encounter the characters, stories and songs that make Brixton resonate, in an intimate, moving and ultimately uplifting performance experience. Led by the knowledge of Black Brixtonites, we journey into the heart and fire of what empowers this unique place.
During October 2022, Indigenous Australian musician Jessie Lloyd undertook a residency in Brixton, working with the community to discover songs and stories from the 75 years that have passed since the Windrush brought the first post-war migrants to London from the Caribbean. Applying the methodology she evolved to work with Indigenous Elders in her MISSION SONGS project, and collaborating with Brixton-born artist Tony Cealy, Jessie explored the commonalities of experience between Indigenous Australians and Black Britons, using music to commemorate local heritage, within global histories of racism and emerging processes of reconciliation. Jessie’s grandfather Albie Geia was a leader in the 1957 Palm Island Strike, which, like the events in Brixton in 1981, were labelled ‘riots’, leading to Albie’s imprisonment.
ORIGINS commissioned Brixton-based sound artist, Thor McIntyre-Burnie, and his public arts company Aswarm, to respond to Jessie's residency; creating a site-specific, immersive experience that weaves the songs through the streets of Brixton and uncovers their extraordinary stories. The result is this immersive, interactive audio-walk, accessed through AswarmXR’s mobile app.
Starting near Brixton tube, you can take an hour’s walk through the streets, which become enlivened and theatrical through the music, voices and stories of local people.
How to use SONGSTREETS
- Download Aswarm XR's mobile app (App store for iOS) (Google Play for Android) while at home or somewhere with a strong Wi-Fi connection, like the library.
- Once downloaded head to the starting point of the walk which is 30 yards to the right on exiting Brixton Tube station (Near Pret) 419 Brixton Road, Brixton, London, SW9 8HE / GPS coordinates: 51.463087, -0.114776).
- Once there, open Aswarm XR app
and click on "SONGSTREETS" from the menu. (Note: The App may take 1-5 mins to download & open).
- The App will instruct you from there - Enjoy your journey!
Things to note:
SONGSTREETS is an immersive audio-walk that takes approximately 45mins to 1hr to complete with seated breaks. It's designed to be experienced with earphones.
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Music animateur: Jessie Lloyd
Sound Installation Concept: Aswarm, Lead Artist Thor McIntyre-Burnie
Community arts practitioner and narrator: Tony Cealy
Community arts practitioner: Lucy Dunkerley
Creative Technologist: Leon Barker (Gesture Ltd & Aswarm XR)
Sound engineer: Simon Hendry
Poetry read by: Vivienne Rochester
Song "Brixton Market" composed by Mervelee Myers
Voices of Brixton: Article Birds Legs, Audrey Eccleston, Beryl, Bionic, Carlton Brodin, Cat Pestano, Dawn McKay, Incy, FLOetic Lara, Joanne, Judith, The Junglites (Ian Geoghegan), Lena Douggan, Linett Kamala, Mervelee Myers, Michelle Killington (Vinyl Memories), Nadia Rahman
