The Commons: Dispersed Song workshop with artist, Carl Gent

The Commons: Dispersed Song workshop with artist, Carl Gent

Join artist Carl Gent to look at English folk songs and create new arrangements to be performed during this free workshop.

By The Museum of English Rural Life (The MERL)

Date and time

Sat, 19 Mar 2022 10:00 - 12:30 GMT

Location

The Museum of English Rural Life

6 Redlands Road Reading RG1 5EX United Kingdom

About this event

Join artist Carl Gent as they look at a range of English folk songs, their history and legacy and work with them to create new lyrical and compositional arrangements to be performed throughout the course of the workshop.

The majority of English folk songs have travelled across countries and contexts for centuries. As this passage occurs, verses are added, forgotten or tweaked. Geographical details are swapped out to better fit a new audience and hybridity occurs. One melody can play host to a large range of different narratives and voices. During this workshop, Gent will take a few different songs and work with visitors using cut-up and rearrangement techniques to combine different versions of the same song, creating new hybrid versions that will then be sung together.

Carl Gent and Kelechi Anucha's sonic sculptures playing three new folk recordings are currently on show in The Year on a Farm display at The MERL as a part of The Commons: Re-enchanting the World.

All materials provided, No advance knowledge necessary.

If we receive your booking with enough advance notice, we may contact you to find out if you'd like to work with a specific song of your own. This is not mandatory and if there is not enough time, Carl will use pre-prepared songs.

This workshop is suitable for adults and children aged 12+.

All children should be accompanied by a participating adult. As capacity in our Learning Studio is restricted, we’d ideally like all attendees to participate in the workshop if possible.

The Commons: Re-Enchanting the World is supported by Arts Council England and University for the Creative Arts.

Organised by

The Museum of English Rural Life (The MERL)

The Museum of English Rural Life (The MERL)

The MERL was established in Reading in 1951 to capture and record the rapidly changing countryside following World War II. In 2005, it moved to its current premises in St Andrew’s Hall, a building designed by Sir Alfred Waterhouse in 1880 for local businessman Alfred Palmer of the Huntley & Palmer biscuit company.

Today the Museum uses its diverse and surprising collection to explore how the skills and experiences of farmers and craftspeople, past and present, can help shape our lives now and into the future. The Museum has worked alongside rural people, local communities and specialist researchers to create displays and activities that engage with important debates about the future of food and the ongoing relevance of the countryside to all our lives.

The MERL belongs to the University of Reading Museums and Special Collections Service (UMASCS)

Special Collections Our collections, which include rare books, archives and manuscripts, are substantial and varied, particularly for a University of this age and size. The University's collections also include artwork.

Museums Partnership Reading

Reading Museum and The Museum of English Rural Life work together as Museums Partnership Reading (MPR). MPR is funded by Arts Council England’s (ACE) National Portfolio Organisation scheme, to improve opportunities for diverse local communities to engage in cultural experiences and heritage through public programmes, including exhibitions, high quality learning services for young people, new online experiences and investment in volunteering.

 

Sales Ended