The Imaginarium was a multimedia exhibition presented by the 154 collective and inspired by the collections and artefacts from Leeds Central Library. I worked with visual artists and writers to create an imaginary museum populated by fantastical creatures complete with stories and sounds.
As a starting point I ran workshops to collect sounds from around the library and conducted a “found sounds” orchestra. These “found sounds” were then used exclusively in the creation of the soundscapes and music for the exhibition. I also collected fragments of music from Victorian songbooks found in the library archives which informed the melodies for the project. The final result was a range of soundtracks to films and projections, as well as ambient sound installations placed within the rooms and inside sculptures.
Forkface – Imaginarium from Fabric Lenny on Vimeo.
To kick off the exhibition I performed music from the Imaginarium and ran mixed media workshops with Lou Sumray, which were attended by over 200 people.
Ace reactions from staff @154collective#Imaginarium launch. Thanks for letting us play at your gaff @leedslibrariespic.twitter.com/4XqVpUTUIh
— Ben Rothera (@BenRothera) February 3, 2016
Image by Yvonne Roberts
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