It’s Where We Go is an audiovisual performative archive of seaside memories, combining the voices of 25 people, recorded in 2015, speaking about their experiences in seaside towns in and around the UK. The performance explores themes of nostalgia and loss, but also of community and hope. Other themes include gentrification, migration and youth.
Originally a series of live performances held at Coastival Festival, Herne Bay Festival and Tenby Arts Festival in 2016, artists Tiffany Murphy (tiffanymurphy.co.uk) and Olivia Lamont Bishop (olivialamontbishop.com) adapted the audio to create an online performance. Brighton photographer Ian Howorth (ihoworth.com) provides imagery, shot on film in seaside towns, to accompany the performance and help frame the seaside experiences.
Released in the 2021 lockdown when the seaside was inaccessible for many people in the UK, we felt this performance would help bring the seaside to people instead. Now, where some restrictions have lifted but many people are opting to holiday domestically, this performance celebrates the UK seaside and the memories created there. Audiences are encouraged to share their own memories on the website, which will be published on Instagram to create a living, digital archive.
"We hope the themes in this performance will speak to our audiences, especially during these challenging times, and bring a little bit of light and hope. Listening to this performance now is about remembering what we once had, and the people we shared those experiences with."
