You are the place - Shilpa Gupta sound installation

Review by Seamus Kelly

This new sound installation has been created by Shilpa Gupta, an international Mumbai based artist, working with non-native residents of Rochdale.

The participants were invited to talk and write about, and sometimes make drawings of, things that they miss from home. Those descriptions and images were then shared with eight local songwriters who created songs in Arabic, Cantonese, English, Polish, Urdu, Portuguese, Punjabi, Ukrainian and Urdu. The songs have been recorded with a mixture of voices including people from the local communities.

In the centre of a very large, and very dark, space speakers in the form of old fashioned microphones and lights suspended from the ceiling move around and above you in the centre of a large and very dark space. In that central space the lyrics for the songs are printed on white paper in their respective languages and the visitors are invited into centre to listen and watch the movement. There are also benches set back from the installation where visitors can sit to take in the experience.

Don’t be put off by the label, sound installation, this is an immersive experience that uses a powerful mix of music and voices in a space with distractions removed to do what all good art should do; to connect with its audience at a deep and emotional level. Even if the languages are beyond your own experience the messages of love, longing, memories and of moving to new homes are powerfully expressed through the voices and music.

Still they know what I dream

Visitors can also spend some time in a separate space taking in another piece by Shilpa Gupta, this one is a “light text sculpture” created in 2021. In this space there two pre-digital information panel of the kind that used to be used in railway stations. These two displays carry constantly changing words and phrases, sometimes not quite complete, sometimes deliberately misspelt, creating a dreamlike effect. The overall tone of the messaging relates to trust, lies and understanding and all is accompanied by the mechanical clicking and rattles as the analogue displays change, with the sounds from “You are the place” filtering through the space.

Both of these pieces of art are well worth visiting and spending some time soaking in the sounds and messages. Rochdale actor and producer Becky Kershaw said, after visiting the exhibition, “it was beautiful to be immersed in the rich tapestry of voices in an almost meditative environment”, and I couldn’t agree more.

The exhibition, which is part of the Manchester International Festival and Rochdale’s year as Manchester Town of Culture, finishes on Sunday 20th July so catch it if you can.

The location is the RISE Inavate Centre, Smith St, Rochdale OL16 1YH, and the exhibition is open daily from 11am to 8pm except Sunday 20th July when it closes at 6pm.

For those who might be less comfortable with the darkness there will be an opportunity to visit for a relaxed showing, with the lights on, between 2pm and 3pm on Sunday 20th July which is also the last day of the exhibition.