BRISTOL.- Arnolfini and artist Emma Smith present 5Hz – an interactive exhibition that invites audiences to experience a new human language.

5Hz is a project by artist Emma Smith in collaboration with psychologist Laurence White (Plymouth University), cognitive neuroscientist Nina Kazanina and musicologist Emma Hornby (both University of Bristol). Emma Smith works with sound, performance and text. She often collaborates with the public to develop her ideas and to create participatory experiences that have a social and site-specific focus.

The project was inspired by current research that suggests our voices originally evolved for the purpose of singing and that this allowed our ancient ancestors to bond socially and imagines what we might sound like if our human languages had evolved to prioritise social bonding, instead of communicating instruction.

The exhibition provides an opportunity for visitors to experience the new language, learn how it evolved and use it themselves. This includes a sound chamber installation where visitors can learn and try the language, an interactive library and research space, fun online experiments and live choral performances.

A live programme of events will accompany the exhibition including language lessons with artist Emma Smith, live choral performances including Bristol University's Schola Cantorum, talks by eminent scientists and academics, reading groups and discussions. In the final weekend of the exhibition, Arnolfini's learning team will host a range of family activities in the space that are inspired by the exhibition.

The exhibition has been developed from a series of language evolution workshops and public research labs that took place at Arnolfini during 2014 and involved members of public. These sessions included electroencephalography experiments, or EEG (the recording of the brain’s electrical activity).

Building on the elements of voice that make us feel connected to one another, 5Hz has produced new biomedical and psychological research into vocal rhythm, drawing also from contemporary research in the fields of science, psychology, musicology, classics, theology and anthropology on the evolution of voice.

Emma Smith’s work has featured internationally in Canada, China, Europe, India, Kenya, Lebanon and Mauritius. Exhibitions in the UK include Tate Modern, Whitechapel Gallery, Camden Arts Centre and The Showroom. Smith’s public workshops and talks include sessions at The Serpentine Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Gasworks and Barbican.

5Hz is produced by Arnolfini in collaboration with the University of Bristol, Plymouth University and with the support of the Wellcome Trust.