The Seafarer

This multimedia installation, inspired by the old English poem 'The Seafarer', takes the form of a tour through parts of the Royal Festival Hall that aren't usually open to the public. Devised by cellist Oliver Coates, Southbank Centre artist-in-residence Netia Jones and sound designer David Sheppard, the installation is inspired by the tenth-century poem's message of patience in time of adversity and hope for a better life. Accompanied by sounds of breaking ice, gulls and distant engines, visitors are taken through the RFH's utility corridors, lit by video installations showing scenes related to life at sea, to the boiler room, where hidden speakers amplify and create chords out of the noises made by machines. Verses of 'The Seafarer' can be read on the walls of the corridors and on the machinery.