Ten Songs for a Lar: International Project Gives Voice to Roman Statue
The Kent-Medway Museum Partnership has initiated a project featuring ten audio pieces inspired by a Roman Lar bronze statue housed at the Guildhall Museum in Rochester, UK, which dates back to approximately 200 AD and was unearthed in 1888. Contributing artists include Anil Sebastian, Ariel Chan, Cyanotape, Freddie Murphy & Chiara Lee, Iain Chambers, Lunatraktors, Donna McKevitt & Jan Noble, Quiet Boy, Stergin, and Yeji Yeon. Their works delve into concepts such as identity and time travel. Since September 2020, one piece has been unveiled each month. These creations will be included in the collections of Kent-Medway Museum NPO partners, featured in a traveling exhibition, and released on vinyl this autumn. Freddie Murphy and Chiara Lee's work premiered on BBC Radio Kent on June 15.
Key facts
- Ten Songs for a Lar commissions ten audio works inspired by a Roman Lar bronze statue.
- The statue is housed at the Guildhall Museum in Rochester, UK.
- The bronze statuette dates to around 200 AD and was found in 1888 near Frindsbury.
- Ten international artists were selected via an open call.
- Artists include Anil Sebastian, Ariel Chan, Cyanotape, Freddie Murphy & Chiara Lee, Iain Chambers, Lunatraktors, Donna McKevitt & Jan Noble, Quiet Boy, Stergin, and Yeji Yeon.
- Compositions use modern composition, musique concrète, spoken word, field recording, pop, and folk.
- Themes explored include identity, loss, family, home, protection, silence, time travel, and animism.
- Since September 2020, one work has been released monthly.
- Works will enter museum collections and become part of a traveling exhibition and vinyl album.
- Curator Luke Currall is Cultural Projects Manager of the Kent-Medway Museum Partnership.
- Freddie Murphy and Chiara Lee's piece 'A Visit from a Lar' debuted on BBC Radio Kent on June 15.
- The duo's composition reflects on speech and listening, inspired by Ovid's description of Lares.
Entities
Artists
- Anil Sebastian
- Ariel Chan
- Cyanotape
- Freddie Murphy
- Chiara Lee
- Iain Chambers
- Lunatraktors
- Donna McKevitt
- Jan Noble
- Quiet Boy
- Stergin
- Yeji Yeon
- Samantha Stella
- Arvo Pärt
- Ovid
- Buzzati
Institutions
- Kent-Medway Museum Partnership
- Guildhall Museum
- The Historic Dockyard Chatham
- Canterbury Museums & Galleries
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Collections
- Arts Council England
- BBC Radio Kent
- Artribune
Locations
- Kent
- Rochester
- United Kingdom
- Quarry House
- Frindsbury
- Italy
- China
- Austria
- South Korea
- Estonia
- Europe
- North America
- Australia
- Russia