BEST EVENT SUNDERLAND

Jan 30 2009 By The Journal

Sunderland is under the spotlight in day four of our series giving you a chance to vote in the Culture Awards 2008.

IT’S the penultimate day of our five-day series giving you the chance to have a say in who wins the Best Event Culture Awards for 2008.

Today we turn our attention to Sunderland. To vote, click on your chosen event in the vote object on the right.

Here’s the top trio of events from Sunderland in 2008.

The closing date for public voting is February 6 at noon. All votes cast and comments made via the website will be used by the judging panel when making their final decision.

WHISPERING IN THE LEAVES

CHRIS Watson’s rainforest soundscape was a special commission for the AV08 Festival and was broadcast to visitors of Sunderland Winter Gardens.

The audio installation constituted the sounds of animals broadcasting their presence to others.

More than 200 speakers were used to immerse visitors into the world of a South American rainforest.

The opening event saw the artist perform a live sound mix over three hours featuring a tropical thunderstorm and ending with the sounds of the nocturnal insect chorus. A family sound recording workshop also allowed visitors to create their own soundscapes.

Helen White, senior manager at Tyne and Wear Museums, said: “Whispering in the Leaves was a fantastic event. Chris Watson is one of the world’s leading sound recorders of wildlife and natural phenomena and he transformed the Winter Gardens with a sound installation which recreated the atmosphere of some of the world’s most remote rainforests.

“The sound pieces featured the calls and voices of thousands of species ... allowing visitors to experience the sounds of a whole day in just 20 minutes.

“I think what made Whispering in the Leaves such a great event is that it was able to transport visitors to faraway, inaccessible and often extraordinary locations – all through sound. It was a multi-sensory experience which captured people’s imaginations.”

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