Skip to main content
A wooden birdhouse stands on a thin pole amidst tall, brownish grass in an outdoor garden setting. The birdhouse has a dark brown sloped roof, light wood panel sides, a small round entry hole, and a tiny plaque showing the number 34 below the hole. In the blurred background, several people walk through green trees and garden plants.

Exhibitions

Memorial Birdsongs

Friday 21 - Saturday 29 August

 

 

Quick summary

Price
Free
Running time
10am - 4pm
Venue
  • Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens

Additional information

Access Information

Event description

“Memorial Birdsongs” is an interactive garden of natural music. Using their phones, visitors select a birdsong and painting for someone in their thoughts. They receive a digital memento and can visit the song on one of 50+ speakers in the garden. Over the course of the exhibition, the trees will fill with a growing community choir of birdsongs from around the world, each representing someone who is remembered and loved.

After exhibitions in Hong Kong, France and Portugal, the garden comes to Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens and continues to show an innovative mix of new technologies, traditional crafts, and cultural meaning.  Originally conceived as a shared public experience to heal from loss that could not be co-opted for hostile or political rhetoric, in the garden everyone is welcome, but nature speaks for us and shows that we are not alone in missing someone dear.

Memorial Birdsongs is part of 404 International Festival of Art and Technology, funded and supported by North East Mayoral Strategic Authority, Northumbria University Newcastle, Northern Dance, Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Newcastle Contemporary Arts, Universidad Nacional de Rosario (Argentina), Faculty of Humanities and Arts (Argentina), CTRL+Z Centre for Art, Technology and Education Studies, Sitios Hispanos, Anno Lab (Japan) and Institute of General Semantics (New York City).

North East Mayoral Strategic Authority Kim McGuinness Logo