V&A Dundee reveals soundtracks inspired by its architecture

Visitors to the V&A Dundee will today be greeted by a specially-commissioned piece of music inspired by the museum’s architecture and location on the banks of the River Tay.

The composition by Dundee-based artist and musician Su Shaw, also known as SHHE, will play in the museum’s archway from 16.00 to 23.00 each day, inviting visitors and passers-by to attend to the sonic environment around the building. Artists and designers Tommy Perman and Simon Kirby helped Shaw realise this ever-changing piece of music, which interacts with light, weather and movement.

Music commissioned from the Japanese composer and percussionist Midori Takada and inspired by the wooden panels in the main Locke Hall will also play twice a day inside the museum for 90 minutes. Takada is a pioneer of ambient music and met with Kengo Kuma, the architect behind the V&A Dundee, to discuss his architectural vision as part of her musical research.

The soundtracks have been created through a partnership between the V&A Dundee and MSCTY, an artistic agency combining music and architecture. The music will remain in-situ until spring 2022, and can also be listened to on the MSCTY website.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the River Tay and V&A Dundee’s relationship with the water,” said Su Shaw. “During lockdown I would visit the museum every night as part of a walking route. The project with MSCTY provided an opportunity to explore alternative ways to experience the museum, using the constantly changing sounds present there, guiding people’s focus towards the natural environment.” 

Her composition uses natural water sources around the museum, triggered by weather data and tide levels, as well as the motion of ripples in the pools and of people passing through the space.

Becca Clark, project curator at V&A Dundee, said: “Inviting visitors to be sonically guided around the museum, inside and out, is a new aspect of programming for the museum. Thinking about architecture, materials and the way that our movements impact the way sounds travel in a space can reconnect us to being present in those spaces.”

And Nick Luscombe, the founder and creative director of MSCTY added: “To work with Midori Takada and SHHE to create architectural soundtracks for the museum is hugely exciting, as is making a musical connection between Scotland and Japan in the same way that the building represents a link between Scottish nature and one of Japan’s most remarkable architects. 

“The inside and outside of V&A Dundee feel so different but are still linked, still connected. Through this music I want visitors to look again at the museum, to pause and enjoy it in a completely new and different way.” 

The project is supported by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.