LONDON, ENGLAND.- The V&A is staging its first sound exhibition Shhh… in May 2004. International musicians and artists, including David Byrne and Turner Prize winner Gillian Wearing, are creating new sound works using the V&A’s diverse collections and stunning galleries for inspiration.

 

Shhh… takes visitors on a sound journey through the V&A. From the magnificent Raphael Gallery to the grand Victorian stairwells, a diverse group of ten artists and musicians - Cornelius, David Byrne, Elizabeth Fraser, Faultline, Gillian Wearing, Jane and Louise Wilson, Jeremy Deller, Leila Arab, Roots Manuva and Simon Fisher Turner - have created unique responses to the objects and spaces in the museum.

 

The journey begins in the V&A’s Contemporary Space, where visitors collect headphones, a custom-made MP3 player and a map that leads them through the series of sound installations. Infra-red sensors throughout the museum trigger the ‘in ear’ soundtracks which vary dramatically from space to space, ranging from large-scale “soundscapes” to spoken pieces in response to a single art object.

 

Shhh… follows on from the critically acclaimed Friday Late contemporary live music series at the V&A - Shhh!!…Music for Museums which was launched in 2000.

 

Curators of Shhh…Shhh… is jointly curated by Lauren Parker, Curator of Contemporary Programmes at the V&A, and Jonny Dawe, an external curator and musician. Lauren Parker has curated numerous events at the V&A including the Friday Late programme and the innovative Shhh!!…Music for Museums series.  She is author of Interplay: Interactive Design (published 2004). Jonny Dawe worked with the V&A’s Contemporary Team to launch the Shhh!!…Music for Museums programme in 2000. He has performed with Collapsed Lung and recently with Junior Blanks and OSKAR, creating performances for Miu Miu’s catwalk shows in Milan.