Emma Smith | 5Hz

PREVIEW: Thursday 29 November, 6-8pm
EXHIBITION: Friday 30 November 2018 - Saturday 9 February 2019
OPENING TIMES: Thursday - Saturday, 11am-6pm

Primary are delighted to host Emma Smith’s 5Hz exhibition this winter, as the first stage of the 5Hz & Euphonia Tour in partnership with HOME (Manchester) and Wysing Arts Centre (Cambridgeshire). Through the tour, a series of connected exhibitions and events will build upon each other, developing conversations around language and the musicality of the human voice. At the centre of the work is the idea of the human voice as a vehicle for social connection, and the tour will offer an opportunity to explore this with diverse audiences, across different languages.

5Hz is a sound installation centred around the invention of a new singing language designed to strengthen social connections. Developed following a year-long research process examining psychological and neurological responses to the human voice, the 5Hz language comprises a set of sounds that transcend language barriers. Visitors to the exhibition can learn the language and begin using it within 15 minutes.

In April 2019, both 5Hz and Euphonia will be brought together for the first time at HOME, followed by an off site live performance with Wysing Arts Centre in May. Euphonia, which premiered in 2018 at the Bluecoat in Liverpool, is an ambitious new sound installation based on the musicality of social interactions. The work was developed through public experiments and workshops with world experts in music, psychology and the brain.

Emma Smith: 5Hz & Euphonia Tour is a partnership between HOME (Manchester), Primary (Nottingham) and Wysing Arts Centre (Cambridgeshire), supported through the Arts Council England Strategic Touring Fund.

5Hz was created in collaboration with Dr Lawrence White (Plymouth University) following research with Dr Emma Hornby and Dr Nina Kazanina (University of Bristol). 5Hz was originally commissioned by Arnolfini, supported by Wellcome.