Playing the rhubarb triangle
West Yorkshire’s proud history of rhubarb-growing is providing inspiration for a new Learning and Participation project created by Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb involves sound artist, musician and educator Duncan Chapman working with pupils from Overthorpe Junior, Infant and Nursery School in Thornhill, Dewsbury to create an interactive online installation using audio and visuals from the farming of local rhubarb.
Yorkshire’s famous ‘Rhubarb Triangle’ is an area between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell known for producing forced rhubarb. This technique for growing rhubarb, which is originally native to Siberia, became popular in the 19th century. The plants are grown outside for two years then transferred indoors to sheds that are heated and kept in complete darkness, prompting the sprouting of new stems with a prized tenderness and sweet flavour. In 2010 Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb was awarded European Protected Designation of Origin status, putting it in the same category as champagne, gorgonzola and Swaledale cheese.
Funded by The Ernest Cook Trust and The Michael Tippett Musical Foundation, Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb draws upon timelapse photography of the plants’ growth at a West Yorkshire farm, along with audio recordings of the distinctive ‘pop’ made as new buds burst open and sounds from the harvesting of the crop. Pupils will use creative and ICT skills, such as sound editing with Audacity, to produce the multimedia piece. The project also includes other rhubarb-related musical activities and education about its history and growing techniques, as well as about foods holding PDO status across Europe.
The Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb workshops are taking place until 8 April and culminate in a ‘Rhubar-B-Q’ showcase for the pupils and their families at the school on 11 April. Duncan Chapman has previously collaborated with hcmf// on the projects Sonic Postcards (2006), AudioMunch (2007) and The Music of Electricity (2009) – look out for the Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb project website, launched soon.
Yorkshire’s famous ‘Rhubarb Triangle’ is an area between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell known for producing forced rhubarb. This technique for growing rhubarb, which is originally native to Siberia, became popular in the 19th century. The plants are grown outside for two years then transferred indoors to sheds that are heated and kept in complete darkness, prompting the sprouting of new stems with a prized tenderness and sweet flavour. In 2010 Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb was awarded European Protected Designation of Origin status, putting it in the same category as champagne, gorgonzola and Swaledale cheese.
Funded by The Ernest Cook Trust and The Michael Tippett Musical Foundation, Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb draws upon timelapse photography of the plants’ growth at a West Yorkshire farm, along with audio recordings of the distinctive ‘pop’ made as new buds burst open and sounds from the harvesting of the crop. Pupils will use creative and ICT skills, such as sound editing with Audacity, to produce the multimedia piece. The project also includes other rhubarb-related musical activities and education about its history and growing techniques, as well as about foods holding PDO status across Europe.
The Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb workshops are taking place until 8 April and culminate in a ‘Rhubar-B-Q’ showcase for the pupils and their families at the school on 11 April. Duncan Chapman has previously collaborated with hcmf// on the projects Sonic Postcards (2006), AudioMunch (2007) and The Music of Electricity (2009) – look out for the Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb project website, launched soon.
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