Tag Archives: NICAP

Transmit/Receive: Making and Experimenting with First World War Sound Technologies

2 x Workshops, Sunday 25 October & Sunday 8 November 2015 @ Discovery Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne

Join Newcastle University sound recording professionals Tim Shaw, John Bowers and Tom Schofield (all School of Arts and Cultures) over two workshops to explore and rebuild sound technologies of the First World War. The First World War was a period of great technological innovation. Many of the communication devices were developed to generate or listen to sound. From radio broadcasts to early underwater microphones, listening was a key strategy in the war effort.

Workshop One – Hydrophones and Morse Code Transmitters

Sunday 25 October, 12-3pm

At the first event you will build and use your own hydrophone (underwater microphone) and morse code transmitter. You will also explore their use during the First World War.

Workshop Two – Short-range radio transmitters and carbon granule microphones

Sunday 8 November, 12-3pm

At the second workshop you will build and use your own short-range radio transmitter and carbon granule microphone. You will also explore their use during the First World War.

Price
Workshops are £6 each (plus online booking fee). Advance booking is essential.

Places for workshops are limited. Each session covers different making activities – you are encouraged to attend both although you can also attend one or the other.

No prior specialist or technical knowledge is needed to attend and materials are included in the price.

All attendees must be aged 16 and over to attend. 

For more information and to book tickets, please visit: 

https://discoverymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/transmit-receive

Sing and Dance for King and Country

Installation – Rachael Hales, Newcastle University

3pm, Friday 11 September @ Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum

Sound artist Rachael Hales will be presenting her audio-visual installation exploring the experiences of local people during the First World War, through the lens of local folk traditions and practices. Rachael will be presenting the findings of her research into Rapper Dancing, Clog Dancing and Children’s Song on Tyneside during the First World War, alongside the three audio-visual artworks that she created in response to this research. This project is part of Decoded 1914-18, commissioned by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums and the Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice, which involved seven artists producing creative responses to the First World War collections held by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.

The event is presented as part of the Heritage Open Days at Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum: The Chantry, Bridge Street, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 1PJ.

About the Installation:

Sing and Dance for King and Country is an audio-visual installation exploring the experiences of the people of Tyneside during the First World War, through the lens of local folk traditions and practices. It explores how various folk practices – including rapper dancing, clog dancing, and folksong – can be used to investigate the experiences of war of three groups of people: the rapper dancers of the North East, female munitions workers, and children. Move through the installation in the footsteps of the singers and dancers of 100 years ago, uncovering forgotten and untold stories of how the ordinary people of Tyneside danced and sang their way through the First World War. This installation was presented in collaboration with Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums at the Discovery Museum, Newcastle Upon Tyne in February 2015, and at the Chantry Bagpipe Museum, Morpeth in April 2015 as part of the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering.

About the composer:

Rachael Hales is a sound artist, composer and performer, currently studying for a Ph.D. in composition at Newcastle University. Her work investigates ways in which environmental and everyday sounds can interact with musics of place, particularly folk and traditional music, to perform, represent or portray a sense of place. Recent work has included a commission for the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering, exploring the Anglo-Saxon history of Morpeth; an audio-visual piece portraying Rachael’s experience of the High Level Bridge in Newcastle Upon Tyne; and a sound installation entitled ‘Listening to the Border: a sonic exploration of the construction and performance of identity in the Scottish borders’. Rachael is also a busy folk musician, performing regularly at ceilidhs.

First World War Symposia at Newcastle University

On 15 and 16 April 2015, Newcastle University hosted two very successful events showcasing First World War research, which were attended by over 70 people across the two days. The events were presented in association with Living Legacies and the AHRC, and were both generously supported by the McCord Centre for Historic and Cultural Landscape at Newcastle University, alongside the Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal and the Newcastle Humanities Research Institute.

The first of the two events, on Wednesday 15 April, was a First World War Postgraduate Symposium, at which postgraduate researchers from 9 institutions across the UK presented their research on the First World War and its legacies. The speakers covered a wide range of fascinating topics, from literary and artistic responses to the First World War to the role of women in both war and pacifism, and from military technologies and empire to activities on the home front. The final programme for the event can be found here.

The second event, which took place on Thursday 16 April, was entitled ‘Connecting Communities Through Researching First World War Heritage’, and brought together community and academic researchers working on projects during the First World War centenary commemorations in the North East of England. The projects showcased at the event approached the war from a range of different perspectives, and through a variety of different methods. These included the artistic and creative responses of Applied Comics Etc. (Newcastle University), Wor War (YMCA North Tyneside), Wor Women on the Home Front (Tyneside Women’s Health & Curiosity Creative), and Decoded 1914-18 (Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice and Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums). Alongside these, several projects focused on using digital technologies to either map the impact of the First World War on the region, to digitize and preserve archival materials, to investigate and record the lives of those featured on local war memorials, and to preserve the memorials themselves. These projects included: Durham at War (Durham County Council & Record Office); Tynemouth World War One Commemoration Project; Northumberland at War (Northumberland Archives); The Universities at War and the Armstrong Memory Book (Dr Jane Webster of Newcastle University); and CARE of War Memorials in North East England (Dr Myra Giesen of Newcastle University). In addition to detailed and informative presentations from representatives of these projects, the event also featured a presentation from Dr Keith Lilley and Dr Paul Ell, PI and Co-I of Living Legacies at Queen’s University Belfast, as well as a stimulating keynote on non-invasive landscape archaeology of the First World War in Flanders from Professor Veerle van Eetvelde of the University of Ghent. The event concluded with a lively roundtable discussion in which community and academic researchers developed initial plans for future collaborations. The final programme for this event is available here.

First World War – Postgraduate Symposium

15 April 2015 @ Research Beehive, Newcastle University

The centenary of the First World War has prompted an immense amount of research investigating the events of 1914-1918 and the legacies of the War. Postgraduate research in particular is at the forefront of new and exciting directions in First World War studies. This interdisciplinary symposium showcases some of the fascinating work being undertaken by postgraduate researchers  on the First World War and its aftermath.

This event contributes to the AHRC-funded Living Legacies 1914-18 Engagement Centre programme, in which Newcastle University is a partner organisation. The Newcastle event is supported by the McCord Centre for Historic and Cultural Landscape (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/mccordcentre/), and the Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/socialrenewal/).

Please find a draft programme for the event here: First World War PG Symposium – Draft Programme. Attendance at this event is free, and a complementary lunch will be provided. Please register here by Tuesday 7 April 2015.

Connecting Communities Through Researching First World War Heritage

16 April 2015 @ Research Beehive & Great North Museum, Newcastle University

A one-day symposium to be held at Newcastle University on Thursday 16 April 2015. This event brings together community projects and academic researchers working across the North East, and features a keynote address from Professor Veerle Van Eetvelde on her work on First World War landscapes in Belgium.

We invite anyone interested in the First World War and its heritage to join us at the event. Attendance is free, and lunch and refreshments will be provided. To register, please contact Emma Short by Tuesday 31 March 2015.

This event contributes to the AHRC-funded Living Legacies 1914-18 Engagement Centre programme, in which Newcastle University is a partner organisation. The event is supported by the McCord Centre for Historic and Cultural Landscape, and the Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal.

Please find a draft programme for the event here: Connecting Communities – Draft Programme.