Deben Soundings

Do please join us to view the outcome of this experiment and to learn more about the range and ambition of the overarching project at ArtSpace, Thoroughfare, Woodbridge, 21st-26th April.

Deben Soundings is the working title of the research project, Imagining the Measure of Change coordinated by Helene Burningham, UCL and Simon Read, Middlesex University as a part of the Landscape Decisions Network Programme funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council 2020-2022

The brief was, through an arts/science interdisciplinary partnership, to gain access to a broader community understanding of the Deben Estuary Landscape and to encourage more informed participation in the development of a new iteration of the Deben Estuary Management Plan. 

Our original strategy was to run a series of public workshop events at a range of locations along the estuary, but this became unworkable due the impact of Covid-19 and the limitations placed upon any form of public gathering. This forced us to consider an alternative approach: starting with the network developed from our launch exhibition in September 2020 and our website: https://debensoundings.wordpress.com we developed a strong online community. 

As it grew, we were encouraged to embark upon a year long collaborative exploration and observation of the Deben through our Sounding Change project. This started as an open invitation for participants to engage in a material conversation with a particular location upon the Deben over the course of a year, to capture it as conditions changed and as perceptions shifted according to time, mood or weather. No limitation was placed upon method or mode of expression used.