New multimedia project
Retired miners from across our region are part of an exciting new multimedia project being unveiled this summer.
The project, known as Ancestral Reverb, looks at the topic of Carbon Heritage – honouring the work of the mining community in the North-East, while also discussing responsibility and power in tackling climate change now and in the future.
Ancestral Reverb is led by climate hope charity Threads in the Ground, and commissioned by the Durham Miners’ Association. It has involved interviews with former miners, and their families, asking them for their recollections of living and working in pit communities, what they are proud of and how they feel about climate change.
Poet Jacob Polley has then drawn on these conversations to produce a spoken word piece which honours the mining community whilst looking to the future.
The spoken word is set to a musical piece. Created by weaving together some of the oldest known recordings of colliery pit brass bands, dating back to 1903, which have been re-recorded by the current Durham Miners’ Association band. The music has been treated with reverb the team digitally captured from the old Mahogany drift mine at Beamish Museum and subtly includes the voices of Blackhall Community Choir.
This has all then been woven together by musician Bert Verso to create a beautiful piece of electronic music. There will be a limited-edition run of transparent vinyl records pressed, visibly embedded with smashed coal fragments collected at Blackhall beach and Sacriston woods.
The Ancestral Reverb music will also be available for people to download or stream for free digitally.
As well as the music and spoken word, photographer Andy Martin has used Victorian era photo technology known as tintype to produce portrait pictures of some interviewees.
People will be able to listen to and view the project in its entirety at an event being held in Blackhall Community Centre on Friday 27th June, from 6pm to 9pm.
For more information and updates visit: www.ancestralreverb.com
