Immersion: the film

“Breath is not invisible to those for whom breathing is difficult” 

Last year Artsadmin commissioned and produced Immersion, a collaboration between Selina Thompson, the People of Tower Hamlets and the Air they Breathe. We are excited to share two films about the project. 

In the first part of the project, we explored the sacredness of breath by inviting local womxn of colour from the many communities of Tower Hamlets, to record their breath. The workshops were a chance for the womxn to share their experiences and relationship with breathing, in a world where it is often difficult to breathe.

The recordings became part of a soundscape built from their chorus of breathing, singing and humming – a capture of sounds we are surrounded by, tuned into its beauty at a time when breathing has never felt so loaded.

In the second part of the project, Immersion culminated in choral performances across Tower Hamlets. Over the course of one day, four groups of self-appointed Custodians of Air stood facing the North, South, East and West of Tower Hamlets and played the sounds of breathing out into the day and night.

It was a moment to remember the importance of air, of living in a constant cycle of dependence, transformation and respiration with the planet and each other.

It was a reminder for us to remember what it is to breathe.

Immersion was one of the commissions for Season for Change, a UK-wide cultural programme inspiring urgent and inclusive action on climate change, delivered in partnership by Artsadmin and Julie’s Bicycle.

This project was supported by ACT (Art, Climate, Transition) through the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, the Foundation for Future London and City of London, and Arts Council England through Season for Change.