Release by Whispered Tales with Mahboobeh Rajabi

About

Release is the new audio visual installation created by Whispered Tales that shares the story of two courageous young women whose lives whose lives were forever transformed by migration.

On a desolate beach, the tide starts to slip away revealing discarded and distorted objects. Photographs flicker to life amongst the debris as we hear heartfelt stories that take us from Ireland to Liverpool to Bosnia to Leicester. Release shares stories of migration where music offered these women a moment of Release.

Whispered Tales is known for their emotive storytelling and strong visual aesthetic combining real life stories with an immersive and emotive soundscape.

Release see’s Whispered Tales collaborating with Mahboobeh Rajabi an Iranian digital artist whose animations provide an emotive dreamlike quality to this thought-provoking installation.

The story so far… 

Whispered Tales loves to shine a light on unheard and untold stories. The two stories featured in this installation are typical of the type of stories that can be forgotten or cast aside. Esther Simpson the Artistic Director of Whispered Tales went over to Calais and Dunkirk in 2019 working at RCK. After this trip she strongly felt that stories of migration still needed to be told. After a period of research, she discovered two true stories that shared female migration and how music can offer a moment of Release. 

The first shares the story of an Irish refugee who fled the famine. Her new home of sanctuary (Liverpool) was heavily bombed in WW2 with tragic consequences, yet this courageous woman used music to distract her family from the danger of the Liverpool Blitz. Sing to drown the bombs out, sing to lift your sprits or sing to calm the children. 

The second shares the story of a young talented pianist whose career was cut short after the Yugoslav wars where she had to flee Bosnia. 

Whispered Tales worked with Mahboobeh Rajabi running workshops at Commonword in early 2020 to a range of creative writers and asylum seekers, sharing podcasting techniques and sound design. Our hope was to find a third story but for now Covid has disrupted this outcome. 

Mahboobeh will be running an artist workshop October 6th, 2020, 4:00pm-6:00pm. 

Spaces are limited and you can book here: Artist Workshop: Mahobbobeh Rajabi

Funded by Arts Council England. Supported by Phoenix and Commonword.