During January 2018, a network of sound and light spread through Park House in Finsbury Park. Residents of the towerblock were using radio boxes installed in their homes to record thoughts and ideas through the VoiceOver Finsbury Park social radio project.
In 2017, Umbrellium was winner of an open call by the Museum of London and Thirteen Ways to develop “An Idea for a future London”, drawn from more than 70 submissions. We had proposed VoiceOver Finsbury Park, built on VoiceOver Social Radio, a hyper-local social radio project which enabled residents of a tower block in Finsbury Park to share and broadcast their stories and discussions about life in London.
The project was produced by Umbrellium in partnership with Furtherfield, based in Finsbury Park and with strong ties to the local community, a digital arts gallery and community lab which neighbours Park House. They worked with residents to install the radio boxes in flats and in the shared foyer. Residents listened to one another’s ideas via a weekly broadcast of the recordings, curated by writer and director Christine Entwisle, and responded.
Living in a global city like London brings with it many joys and benefits but often, human scale interaction can get lost in the hubbub. VoiceOver Finsbury Park will bring communities together to create connections and share their experiences in a new and exciting way.
— Lauren Parker, City Now City Future Curator at the Museum of London
People passing through Park House’s foyer could leave their reactions, too. What would they change about life in Park House? What will London be like in twenty years? And in the future, what do they dream of doing?
The content was featured in a solo exhibition at Museum of London from 16th February to 15th April.
VoiceOver Finsbury Park, co-commissioned by the Museum of London and Thirteen Ways for City Now City Future, was documented in an exhibition open to the public at the Museum of London from February 12 to April 15, 2018.