The Sonic Histories of Cork City (SHOCC) Project

The Sonic Histories of Cork City (SHOCC) Project is a dynamic public arts project that explores relationships between sound, space, and history. By using archival and historical sources, project leaders Jillian Rogers (Lecturer in Music, UCC), Elaine Harrington (Special Collections Librarian, UCC), and John Hough (Senior Technical Officer, UCC) investigate what locations and spaces in Cork City might have sounded like in various moments in the city’s rich historical past. The aim of this project is to give residents of and visitors to Cork City opportunities to engage creatively with the city’s histories through soundscapes (made accessible by smartphone technology) that have been placed in myriad locations throughout the city. The SHOCC Project plans to provide people in Cork with a wide selection of soundscapes that would allow them to design their own historically-themed soundwalks. In addition, SHOCC’s project leaders are currently developing an app that will enable Cork’s residents and visitors to contribute to Cork’s sonic history by recording their own soundscapes. Through engaging Cork City’s publics in the sonic histories of the city, the SHOCC Project aims not only to teach people about Cork City’s fascinating past and present, but also to encourage people to think critically about the spaces in which they live, and to consider how social, political, environmental, and artistic factors have contributed to how Cork City sounded in the past and how it might sound in the future.