The Conversation Continues: We Are Still Listening, Trevor Mathison

The Stuart Hall Foundation is thrilled to announce The Conversation Continues: We Are Still Listening, a newly commissioned audio-based artwork by artist Trevor Mathison that responds imaginatively to Stuart Hall’s chosen place of rest at Highgate Cemetery in London, UK in collaboration with LUX.

The Conversation Continues: We Are Still Listening is a 40-minute immersive soundscape that offers a re-examination of the lives and histories of those laid to rest at the cemetery in the context of contemporary anti-racism movements, honouring Stuart Hall’s memory and his ongoing impact on contemporary national debates. Audiences are invited to listen to the soundscape on headphones as they follow their own pathway through Highgate Cemetery’s beautifully conserved landscape of monuments, buildings, flora and fauna. The piece will be available for the first time in June as part of the Highgate Festival in London (11th – 19th June 2022) alongside an accompanying programme of special events.

Trevor Mathison developed The Conversation Continues: We Are Still Listening by exploring the legacy of Stuart Hall (1932 – 2014) and his arrival in the UK from Jamaica in 1951 and taking a historical look at Highgate Cemetery: how it came into being, the radical thinkers buried there, and its botanical meditative landscape. The piece imagines those that are resting – philosophers, artists, writers from different periods – coming together to expand on their lives’ work and debate with each other. Mathison has incorporated field recordings from the Highgate Cemetery and its surrounding areas, as well as audio extracts from Stuart Hall’s 2004 lecture ‘Through the Prism of Intellectual Life’ and text from Hall’s posthumous memoir ‘Familiar Stranger’ spoken by actor Joseph Black. In addition, extracts from Selina Nwulu’s poetry have been woven into the piece.

From June 11th, audiences can download the audio file for The Conversation Continues: We Are Still Listening from the Stuart Hall Foundation’s website and visit Highgate Cemetery any day from 10am – 5pm. Details of ticket costs and how to access Highgate Cemetery’s grounds are available from their website: highgatecemetery.org

The Conversation Continues: We Are Still Listening will be accompanied by a programme of special events and screenings in June that includes:

•An evening preview event at Highgate Cemetery Chapel on Thursday 9th June featuring a conversation between Trevor Mathison and Aasiya Lodhi.

•A video accompaniment to the soundscape created by Trevor Mathison made available online for a limited time period from June 20th for remote audiences who are unable to access Highgate Cemetery in person.

•A midsummer event with Trevor Mathison at LUX on Friday 24th June that expands upon where The Conversation Continues: We Are Still Listening began, through tonal poetic movements, reflective visuals from Highgate Cemetery, and experimental spoken word.

The Conversation Continues: We Are Still Listening was commissioned by the Stuart Hall Foundation in partnership with Highgate Cemetery and LUX, and with funding from Arts Council England and The Elephant Trust.