a sound map of the roman baths
sound, music and field recordings by Chris Cundy / video works and projections by Dominyka Vinčaitė / poetry by Adam Horovitz
​2024
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​A Sound Map of the Roman Baths was exhibited at University of Gloucestershire's Hardwick Gallery in 2024. The show presented scored and improvised music, word fragments, images, poetry, and field recordings all taken from research at The Roman Baths, part of the UNESCO world heritage site in the city of Bath. The twelve month process was led by bass clarinet player and composer Chris Cundy.

Five listening stations present feature-length radio programmes. We hear interviews, library recordings, Roman and Celtic curse tablets, eighteen new poems written and read by Adam Horovitz, and many other sonorous aspects carefully gathered from around the site.

Filmworks show the geo-thermal hot springs and water flows close at hand. Twelve Thousand Years Unfolding presents an installation made up of figure-like standing speakers reciting ancient curse tablets. Their excavated voices guide us through the exhibition. They have been remembered, retold and spoken again in over fifteen different languages. 

A documentary screening shows the research from early morning site visits through to experimental practices arriving at a live performance that took place beside the Great Bath itself in October 2023. Dominyka Vinčaitė follows our field work on a journey of discovery and this presents her first venture into documentary making. It draws from accidental and intentional aspects that have arisen in the collaborative process.   

Field recordings were captured underwater using a pair of hydrophone microphones and above the water using ambisonic, stereo and spot microphones. Original music has been composed and performed by an ensemble directed by Chris Cundy, and with studio sessions recorded by undergraduate students at University of Gloucestershire’s school of creative arts throughout 2023.

In tandem with the exhibition A Sound Map of the Roman Baths is also featured as a series of broadcasts on Resonance FM between 15th April ~ 16th May 2024.