‘The Arcade’ by Magda Stawarska-Beavan

Posted in Artworks, Featured, on 28 April 2010

23rd April – 6th May 2010

The Arcade is a soundpiece created by artist, Magda Stawarska-Beavan, which brought the soundscape of Rynek Główny, the main square in Kraków, Poland, to the Harris Museum & Art Gallery in Preston.

The recording was made in the Sukiennice, an arcaded Renaissance cloth hall that dates from 1257, and illustrates a day in the life of Rynek Główny. It begins at the moment the city wakes up with sounds of birds, footsteps of people going to work, cleaning machines, early maintenance and building work and ends with tourists and locals making their way home from bars and clubs. Each hour is marked by a chiming clock in Rynek Główny and a trumpet signal, played from one of two towers in the square. The tune breaks off in mid-stream, to commemorate a 13th century trumpeter, who was shot while sounding the alarm during an attack on the city.

The interaction of visitors with the sound and architecture was an important element of the work, and the piece held specific meanings for different audiences. For a Polish immigrant the sound of the trumpet player from Mariacki Church could have brought nostalgia and perhaps longing for the familiar sounds of the motherland, whilst the noise of a busy arcade had the potential to transport a local Preston audience to a recent past when the city was a lively bustling centre of commerce.

Click here for more information about Magda Stawarska-Beavan’s work.

 

Clip of soundpiece playing after museum closing time