On the Tip of My Tongue: Listening Journeys by Lauren Craig

You are invited to join a conversation: Are you listening? Take your time for slow listening as you stroll through the familiar streets of Plymouth and hear from Black and Brown creatives about their experiences in the city. These experiences, like the landmarks, have faded into the background and become part of everyday life; invisible, overlooked, and embedded in the fabric of Plymouth and its creative sector.

The "Spaces to Speak" project, originally funded as a research and development initiative by the Plymouth Cultural Investment Fund, focused on the visibility of African, Caribbean, and Asian creatives in Plymouth's cultural sector. The goal was to elevate the profile of Black and Brown creativity and voices in Plymouth and to foster conversations to improve the dialogue between creatives and arts organizations in the city. Interviews with Black and Brown creatives living or working in Plymouth were conducted, revealing personal and professional narratives about their reality in dealing with Plymouth's creative sector. Artist Lauren Craig was commissioned to respond to these conversations. As part of the commission titled "On the Tip of My Tongue," Craig created five "listening journeys" through Plymouth, which she describes as "audio collages."

The "listening journeys" adopt a slow listening approach and aim to create a genuine space for speaking, highlighting the spontaneity and messiness of real conversations. The extended duration of the "listening journeys" requires listeners to take their time and listen attentively. There are five listening journeys, A, B, C, D, E, each taking a different route.