Waltham Forest London Borough of Culture has launched We’re All Bats, a new events programme offering a range of interactive ways of connecting pupils with their sense of hearing.
Set in Walthamstow, Leyton, Leytonstone and Chingford, We’re All Bats includes a diverse range of deep listening workshops, activities and events in and around London.
There will also be concerts exploring music, aiming to create hypnotic states and instrument making workshops.
Joel Cahen, event organiser and sound artist, said: “In this age of short attention spans and immediate gratification, a reminder of our natural faculties for attention to subtleness in aural perception is called for.
“Listening is essential for cooperation, empathy, tolerance and inner peace. It is a beacon for change and transformation through new music, technological sounds and language.”
The events will begin on Saturday 5th October, running across all four districts of the borough until 3rd November.
Highlights for schools
- Soundhoppers Children’s Playgroups: The workshop is described as a “sound exploration” playgroup, aimed at five to 11-year-olds. It will encourage deep listening and appreciation of sound and silence, costing £3 per child.
- Make Your Own Synthesizer: This is an opportunity to learn about electronics and gain skills in being able to build a synth and understand how components affect the circuit. Children under 16 must be accompanied by a teacher. The workshop costs £10 per pupil.
- Land Listening Walks: These walks will look at how sound informs a person’s perception of a place. There will be four walks across the different districts of the Borough.
For a full breakdown of what’s coming up throughout the programme of events and where they are taking place, visit, wfculture19.co.uk/events/were-all-bats
