“At the site of Sandby borg – a ringfort on the island of Öland situated in the world-heritage landscape of Southern Öland, Sweden – the Iron Age massacre (dated to approximately 475 AD) presents questions about dissonant heritage; how do archaeologists and heritage workers deal with ancient violence? My answer, the creation of two ‘peace’ works: - one is the SOUNDmound installed permanently at the ringfort; and the other, a series of sonic postcards which I invited the Long Island String Quartet (LISQ) to debut in 2018” Frances Gill.
2018 - ongoing | SOUNDmound open-air sound installation is Electroacoustic Music, and a ‘peace work’ for Experimental Heritage on the theme of fortresses. It consists of 12 sound sculptures installed at Sandby borg situated directly by the sea.
The 12 sound sculptures are: - West Yorkshire Moorland (in B flat); Öland’s Water (in F); Urshult Winds (in C); Celebration (in G); Syrian Futures (in D); Väckelsång Lullaby (in A); Entitlement (in E); The Dig (in B); Heaven’s Mountain (in F sharp); Somali Heritage (in D flat); A Flat Hierarchy (in A flat); and Yellow Box (in E flat).
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2018 | Vykort från Sandby borg is String Quartet no. 4 and a ‘peace work’ for Experimental Heritage on the theme of immigration and sea navigation. It is scored in six short movements (6 postcards).
The 6 postcards are: - Shore; Launch; Adrift; Sails; Call; and Lament.
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SOUNDmound, and Vykort från Sandby borg meaning ‘Postcards from Sandby borg’ (Gill 2018), were created in the same breath, and deal with dissonant heritage in relation to contemporary immigration, especially in relation to the sea as a means of travel. They were funded by the Kamprad Family Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Research & Charity (ref. nr. 20160056).
A dedicated website to the work is found at www.soundmound.org with details about how to experience the onsite installation, and also other ways of hearing the sound sculptures, including a reconstruction of the original sound installation in Chester.
Digital albums that are released in relation to this peace project are: -
2021 | Postcard
– recorded in Resmo church (Mörbylånga, Öland, Sweden), and produced at Stuck in the Wood Studios (Sweden), Postcard is digital album (EP) by Frances Flute the Bellows Mender released on Bandcamp 4th January 2021;
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2021 | Sandby Borg
– digital album (LP) with 18 tracks by Frances Flute the Bellows Mender, released on digital platforms by Stuck in the Wood Records, 5th May 2021. Sandby Borg combines the material on the EP Postcard (released on Bandcamp 4th January 2021) as 6 separate tracks, followed by the 12 tracks from the LP SOUNDmound (released on Bandcamp 28th November 2020). Produced at Stuck in the Wood Studios (Esbjörnamåla, Sweden); and
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2020 | SOUNDmound
– recorded on location in Sweden: - at Sandby borg, Öland; Bergsvägen, Urshult; Pilbäckskolan,Växjö; Sockenstugan, Väckelsång; Ölands Museum Himmelsberga; Yellow Box, Sättre, Öland; in Markaryd; and Växjö, plus in the UK, at the Edgar Dickinson Building, Hade Edge, Holmfirth. SOUNDmound is digital album with 12 tracks by Frances Flute the Bellows Mender released on Bandcamp 28th November 2020, produced in Logic Pro X at Stuck in the Wood Studios (Esbjörnamåla, Sweden).
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Read more about the SOUNDmound at Sandby borg and the String Quartet no. 4 Vykort från Sandby borg in the article listed below.
An experimental approach to heritage and music through a SOUNDmound at Sandby borg, Sweden: developments in method and practice.
By Frances Gill, Bodil Petersson, and Fadumo Weheliye.
Book chapter found on pages 201-211 in the book Music and Heritage: New Perspectives on Place-making and Sonic Identity edited by Liam Maloney, and John Schofield. Published by Routledge (London), in 2021.