Evening Event: Music and Sound in one of Manchester’s underground music venues

Keynote Speaker - Dr Linda O Keeffe (Edinburgh School of Art)

We are delighted to confirm Dr Linda O Keeffe as our keynote speaker. Dr O Keeffe is Head of the School of Art at Edinburgh College of Art. She is both an artist and social scientist and many of her projects, which include solo exhibitions, performances and public installations, have had a multi-disciplinary aspect to them. Her most recent body of work focused on the impact of renewable technology soundscapes on rural environments and subsequently the further impact on local community soundscapes.

This has involved working with ecologists, environmentalists and technologists as well as engaging with communities, activists and artists. A body of that work is currently touring, Hybrid Soundscapes I-IV, as part of the Sounds Like Her exhibition. Past works have focused on sound through the theories of phenomenology and perception, examining the connections between communities and their urban spaces. This practice has involved deep investigations of the social construction of sound alongside an interrogation of urban planning and sensory management projects.

O Keeffe is founder of the feminist research group Women in Sound Women on Sound an international collective focused on making visible women in the field of sonic arts and sound studies research www.wiswos.com, she is also editor in chief of the Interference Journal, a journal of audio cultures www.interferencejournal.org www.lindaokeeffe.com