‘Hulked’ is a brand new soundwalk experience along the Medway coastline and around the Old Brickfields at Lower Halstow, near Sittingbourne. The soundwalk reanimates the wrecks of the Thames Sailing barges, breathes new life into the old brickfields and celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the area.
Hulked has been created by writer and academic Dr Jeremy Scott and Folkestone composer and sound artist Anna Braithwaite in collaboration with local communities in Swale and Medway, including members of the sailing barge community, the Oast House community choir and students from Lower Halstow Primary School. Together they have created and contributed songs, stories, music and other narratives in celebration of the many lost barges, whose remains lie ‘hulked’ in the estuary.
Members of the press and the public are invited to celebrate the interactive soundwalk on Saturday September 28th. This will be an opportunity to meet and mingle with the artists and contributors, try out the soundwalk*, enjoy live music written specially for the soundwalk and cruise the Medway aboard the Edith May, a fully restored and working Thames Sailing Barge. More details of the open day will follow shortly.
Writer, Jeremy Scott has said of the project “This has been one of the most enjoyable and inspiring creative projects I have ever worked on. It combines some of the most important joys in my life: writing, music and sailing. It has been an amazing experience to work with the local community in such a creative and engaging way. Everyone we have worked with so far has been fantastic. We hope the Hulked project will go some way towards re-animating the fascinating and rich heritage of the area.”
Local resident and contributor, Deborah Gorman: “As a child my mother used to tell me about the prison hulks that were left to rot out in the estuary and this always stuck with me and fired my imagination. (The soundwalk) challenged many of our group to produce work which they did not think they were capable of! I loved the whole recording experience – both singing and acting (and hope this project will) get people out and into the countryside and really bring the history of the brickfields and barges to life in an inventive way.”
* the soundwalk is designed to work across all smartphones and tech support will be available at the launch.
For further information and images email:
Caroline Millar at cjm87@kent.ac.uk
Jeremy Scott at J.D.Scott@kent.ac.uk
Notes to Editors:
'Hulked' began life as a creative heritage project funded by Creative Estuary in 2022/3. This first iteration of the project involved Jeremy Scott, Tiller and Wheel and Anna Braithwaite and culminated in some live performances of song, stories and music aboard the Edith May. This pilot project was the launch pad for the 'Hulked' soundwalk.
Thanks to successful Arts Council Funding, Hulked is continuing into 2024 and 2025, with the launch of the soundwalk supported by a year-long series of focus days celebrating different aspects of the project including heritage, the environment and technology.
Hulked can be downloaded for free using a smartphone via the Echoes app.
Follow @HulkedArts
www.hulked.co.uk