History Revisited: Exploring the sounds and stories of Chatham Historic Dockyard

The installation History Revisited presents tales of Chatham Dockyard, recounted by voices of the past and reflected on by voices of the present. It invites the listener to walk through 18 sound compositions created by students from Canterbury Academy Secondary School and a research team comprised by Dr Aki Pasoulas, Dr Brona Martin and Dr Andrew Knight-Hill. Students were inspired to compose with field recordings of the Chatham Dockyard site, developing their pieces in workshops conducted by the research team in November 2021. The sonic works include sounds from the dockyard and interviews with former workers of the yard.

History Revisited was presented through the Music & Audio Arts Sound Theatre (MAAST), using 26 loudspeakers and three projectors at Mezzanine of Slip 3, Chatham Historic Dockyard, between 4 and 8 May 2022. The custom surround sound system placed the listener inside the soundscapes, creating an enveloping and immersive sound experience.

All photographs of the projections in the installation are from the Chatham Historic Dockyard archives, courtesy of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust.

History Revisited is part of the Sonic Palimpsest research project, funded by the AHRC.