15-19th June 2024 10 am – 4pm

soundmirror Coastal SoundLabs reimagine our local landscape through sound and technology 

Artist Rob Smith has been working with local communities to explore the heritage sites of our sound mirrors on the North East coast. The summer of events and workshops will explore sound in a changing landscape at venues in Sunderland, Seaham and Hartlepool. Come and take part in guided sound walks, share stories of local history, hear the landscape in new ways and record sounds that can contribute to a crowd sourced digital artwork. 

Sound mirrors were constructed during the first world war to listen out for approaching Zeppelins that bombed the North East coastline. Their large concrete dishes would reflect the sounds of a Zeppelin’s engines, and amplify them so that an operator could hear them coming and give an early warning to people in the towns.  

The soundmirror Coastal SoundLab activities and events invite you to revisit these sound mirror sites. Through collecting environmental sounds, we ask how our environment is changing, what signals can we hear with the technologies we have now, and how these places are still active within the coastal environment of the North East today.

Click HERE to check out and book your place today!

soundmirror Coastal SoundLab is commissioned by CoLab Sunderland and Sunderland University as part of Seascapes: Tyne to Tees shores and seas, and is supported by National Heritage Lottery Fund.