Almanac for a Walled City (2023)

Almanac for a Walled City is a site-specific, geolocated artwork by Christopher Steenson, created by for the historic city walls of Derry~Londonderry. Taking the form of a sound walk app, the work allows listeners to enter a ‘dreamtime’ space, to reflect on the city's present and future place within ecological history.

A central aspect to artwork’s speculative world-building is the Department of Dreamtime – a non-departmental public body created by Steenson in 2022 to gather the citizens of Derry’s thoughts and feelings related to the future. A representative from the Department – named Aisling – guides listeners as they make their sonic journey.

Aisling’s narrative slips between the past, present and future. Through her ponderments, listeners are furnished with an alternative tour of the walls that explores city’s problematic history as an emblem of the Industrial Revolution, navigating the ways in which the advances borne during this period have shaped the relationships we have with the weather and wider environment.

Some of the ideas and techniques implemented within the artwork were developed with through a series of workshops with community groups and primary school children living in the city. This included listening walks, discussion groups and workshops that explored methods of sound-making and scoring.

Alongside these workshops, Steenson also conducted site visits to ESB’s Coolkeeragh Power Station, located just outside the city, where he captured the sounds of machinery and electricity, as well as interviewing the station’s staff. These sounds and experiences weave their way through the layered fabric of the artwork. Elsewhere, there are snippets of voicemails left to a the Department of Dreamtime’s freephone number, alongside field recordings made during Steenson’s time in Derry.

The public could call the Department’s phoneline from November 2022 until April 2023. It was was advertised around the city through via flyers, a billboard, digital advertising screens and an installation at CCA Derry~Londonderry’s Project Space, which faces out onto the Derry City Walls.

Almanac for a Walled City launched on Friday 1 September with a series of events, coinciding with Artitude Climate Festival organised by The Playhouse. The app is available to download for both iOS and Android.