The Barbican Archive Residency

2pm-3pm – An Introduction to The London Community Video Archive

The London Community Video Archive (LCVA) presents a specially curated selection of films from the Community Video movement of the 1970s and 80s. In the early 1970s, portable video recording equipment became available, and it was possible for the first time for people outside of mainstream broadcasting to make their own television. LCVA’s aim is to draw attention to these unheard voices and images, enabling them to be used in contemporary debates and activism. Presented by filmmaker and researcher Ed Webb-Ingall.

3.30pm-4.30pm – The Bishopsgate Institute

Discover the radical collecting practices of The Bishopsgate Institute’s Special Collections and Archive, with their archivist Stef Dickers. The Bishopsgate specialise in collections which feature Co-operative Movements; Feminist and Women's History; Labour and Socialist History; LGBTQ+ stories. See highlights from the collection and hear about exciting new additions from recent London protests.

5pm-6pm - Sounds Moving in Different Directions - The Far-Out Music of a 1970s Classroom

Take a trip back to the future with the team from Unlocking Our Sound Heritage as they explore the strange and charming world of Creating Music in Class, an educational box set produced by the Radiophonic Workshop’s John Baker, discovered in the archives of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA). In 1976, this collection of experimental classroom instructions, psychedelic graphic scores and mind-bending sounds captured on reel to reel tape gave students and teachers a rare brush with the world of avant-garde sound and free-form improvisation. Lia Mice - recording artist, composer and instrument builder - will also be realising one of the scores live using one of her own sound-making creations. A must for fans of The Radiophonic Workshop, early electronics and improvised music.