Sounding Belfast During Covid-19 (Lockdowns)

What you need: Mobile phone + headphones/earphones Instructions: Go to one of the 15 locations on the map (listed below), walk into the circle, and audio will play (can press pause/play also).

Description: During a global pandemic, countries and cities have become literal ghost towns. Once flustered with sounds from human activities, it has now been overtaken from the once subtle industrial, urban, and natural sound environments. Recording multiple points during the lockdown, we are able to chronologically experience the differences imposed by Covid-19 restrictions and how these spaces have changed from the start of the global pandemic. The recordings focus on Lockdowns 1, 2, and 3, as well the Exit Strategies of Summer 2020 and 2021.

Currently, there are 63 audio files on the map and 16 areas recorded: 1. Albert Memorial Clock 2. Arthur Square 3. Belfast City Hall 4. Botanic Gardens 5. Cathedral Quarter 6. Church Lane 7. Commercial Court 8. Dublin Road 9. Great Victoria Street 10. Laverys Bar Belfast 11. Lisburn Road 12. Queen’s Arcade 13. Queen’s University Belfast 14. Shaftesbury Square 15. St-Anne’s Cathedral 16. The Entries

This project reflects through an auditory and sonic art perspective how the city sounds like without the presence of humans or the normal amount of human density in popular areas in public spaces of Belfast.

Information Creator: Georgios Varoutsos, PhD student in Music at the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Queen's University Belfast Website: https://georgiosvaroutsos.com/ Research Project: https://georgiosvaroutsos.com/covid-19/