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Staging listening: new methods for engaging audiences with sound in museums

Mansell, James; De Little, Alex; Jamieson, Annie

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Authors

Alex De Little

Annie Jamieson



Abstract

This article reports on the experimental methodology and key findings of the AHRC-funded impact and engagement project Sonic Futures: Collecting, Curating and Engaging with Sound at the National Science and Media Museum (2020–21). The project undertook a series of listening-based public engagement activities – described here as staging listening – to identify new ways of engaging listening audiences with sound technology objects in museums. These activities led to the creation of three new interactive sounding exhibit prototypes created jointly with audiences. Because the project took place during periods of lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the UK in 2020–21, the exhibit prototypes were created digitally and tested via online interaction. The article argues that engaging with listening audiences can diversify and enrich museum listening scenarios, a term we use here to describe auditory situations which elicit different kinds of listening attention, interaction and learning. These listening scenarios produce divergent signatures of listening, a concept we develop here to describe the various kinds of learning and engagement we observed throughout the project.

Citation

Mansell, J., De Little, A., & Jamieson, A. (2022). Staging listening: new methods for engaging audiences with sound in museums. Science Museum Group Journal, https://doi.org/10.15180/221704

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 28, 2022
Online Publication Date Apr 27, 2022
Publication Date Apr 27, 2022
Deposit Date Apr 28, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Science Museum Group Journal
Print ISSN 2054-5770
Publisher The Science Museum
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Issue 17
DOI https://doi.org/10.15180/221704
Keywords Audiences, audio, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, echo, exhibition prototyping, listening, National Science and Media Museum, sound, sound archives, sound postcards, sound technology
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7838018
Publisher URL http://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/browse/issue-17/staging-listening/

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