Skylarking

About

Skylarking is an exhibition and events programme by Sheffield-based artist, DJ and broadcaster Ashley Holmes, commissioned by Arts Catalyst. 

Skylarking explores the relationship between landscapes, music and belonging, with a set of structures to encourage contemplation, rest and listening. The works in the exhibition amplify the sounds of the architecture of caves, hills and public spaces in the city, making reference to the echoes and influence of pioneering producers King Tubby and Lee Scratch Perry in Dub, ‘Devil Mix’ productions in Grime, and experimental studio techniques of popular Black music of the 21st century.

The exhibition features an installation containing 6 speakers amplifying the work of creative writers Wemmy Ogunyankin and Akeem Balogun, voice actor Bel Odawa, musician Seigfried Komidashi and artist Joseph June Bond. Their words, music and field recordings are layered and manipulated in response to the Peak District and its sonic textures, echoes and reverberations. Together, they generate a multisensory conversation, inviting audiences to question the ways we understand urban landscapes and the British rural countryside through and beyond social categories like race, class and gender.

Over the course of the exhibition, a series of workshops, performances and radio shows will bring together artists, writers, musicians and DJs to open up the themes explored in Skylarking.