DIRT
How did we get here? Where are we going?
Young Londoners explore the here and now through their global family stories in this new collection of artworks by Sounds Like Chaos.
DIRT brings together a uniquely diverse creative team including 36 young artists aged 12-25, digital specialists and climate change activists to explore the story of the climate emergency told through realities facing the diaspora communities in Lewisham.
DIRT is the fresh, grimy, youthful energy of London, where a choir of voices jostling to tell their story, fuse with tales from the past and with plans and hopes for the future. A multifaceted creative journey engaging often excluded communities in the climate emergency debate, this mammoth project comprises original show DIRT and a series of accompanying films made in collaboration with VIDEOfeet and composer Keir Vine.
We have also commissioned 7 young associates to respond to the source material and themes, resulting in a rich collection of voices and artworks including zines, podcasts, film, sound art and community gatherings to share the journeys, history and connections that have converged to underscore the diversity of cultures living in this city.
theatre show
A collective of young artists explore the way things are through their global family stories.
Combining their own climate change research with real stories, told through interviews with local young people and their families and drawing on the traditions of oral storytelling, a multitude of characters come forth to evoke their ancestors’ tales of migration from across the globe. DIRT weaves through sibling arguments crossing Lewisham and Ghana; to love stories on the SS Moltania sailing from Jamaica in the 1950’s; Irish family land feuds; mothers travelling to the UK alone leaving their children in Latvia, hoping one day to send for them. The show utilizes the powerful perspective of youth, attempting to comprehend their ancestors' decisions and their own future actions in the time of global climate emergency.