The Bill Hunt is a large canal barge which, in previous years, has offered a range of trips, residentials and mobile classroom activities along the canal, with sitting room for 32 people.
The Bill Hunt is a large canal barge which, in previous years, has offered a range of trips, residentials and mobile classroom activities along the canal, with sitting room for 32 people. Over the summer of 2024, the vessel will be used as a floating community radio station, Drift. The Super Slow Way is now looking for an artist, designer or collective to work with young people on the barge over the spring to renovate its exterior and interior while accommodating a radio studio.
The young people are looking for someone imaginative who, using simple means, can reinvent the vessel and help them give it a fresh new makeover. Alongside the renovation of the boat we hope to customise an off-the-shelf wooden garden shed which will function as a ‘jingle shed’ for outreach recording and workshops. We plan to use this as part of the National Festival of Making on the weekend of 6th/7th July.
Drift
Radio broadcasts from boats have a long history, with the iconic Radio Caroline making waves in the North Sea and inspiring music radio for years to come. On a smaller scale and with none of the radio piracy implications, this summer artist Lucia Scazzocchio of Social Broadcasts will work with young people from Blackburn to transform the much loved Bill Hunt barge into a floating micro-radio studio on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
From its mooring at Eanam Wharf, Drift will become a live community radio station on the water, broadcasting the life and sounds of the canal, both with and by the people who are connected to this area of Lancashire.
Content including interviews and group discussions, live music and poetry, pre-recorded radio features, field recordings and sound artworks all featuring, hosted and produced by members of the local community in a series of events will then be shared in the final broadcast taking place over the course of one day on Saturday 31st August, whilst travelling slowly along the canal with multiple stops along the way.
- Timescale – Work should start by late May with full completion by no later than the 30th June when our audio residencies will begin.
- If you’d like to know more or submit your proposal, please email Ben Pearson at ben@superslowway.org.uk
- Please contact us if you have any communication support needs, we’re happy to talk about alternative ways for you to tell us about your idea.
- The deadline for submissions is Tuesday 14 May 2024.
- Please outline your idea within two sides of A4, and include examples of previous work, budget & timeline, including day rate and additional costs. The maximum budget is £7,000 inclusive of materials and travel costs.
