11am–5pm Monday–Friday
20 April–15 May
Peter Scott Gallery
Price: Free
“All of the world’s problems are derived from a lack of listening”
Ustad Naseeruddin Saami
Lancaster Arts is proud to be part of a new project with longterm friends, Invisible Flock. Microtonal is an installation made of 200 borindos (boreendo) – small clay flutes from the desert of Sindh in Pakistan, recently added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding list. Only two people still keep this tradition alive: Allah Jurio, who shapes the borindo from earth, and Faqir Zulfiquar, who knows how to make it sing.
At a time when the borindo could easily disappear, Microtonal becomes a gentle act of resistance and through technology, lets 200 borindos breathe again. The instruments play on their own, but the voices behind them are very human. The artwork treats heritage as something alive and fragile, insisting that small traditions matter.
Invisible Flock is led by artists Victoria Pratt and Ben Eaton. Their work blends creative storytelling with technology to explore how we connect with the world around us. They create immersive installations that invite people to engage with nature, places and each other in fresh and meaningful ways.
On Saturday 25 April, from 1-4.30pm, join artist-musicians Jack McNeill and James Hamilton, and Ben Eaton, for a playful, participatory workshop inside Microtonal. Find out more and book your free place here. Limited spaces so booking essential.
Then at 5.30pm on 25 April, we will be hosting a special screening of Indus Blues, a 2018 Pakistani documentary film from filmmaker Jawad Sharif, about the dying folk and classical musical instruments of Pakistan and the struggle of musicians and craftsmen to keep their art alive. Book your free place here.
Following that at 7pm, join us for the official opening of Microtonal, where we will be joined by Invisible Flock themselves. All welcome, no booking required.
“It was a moment of great pride for Pakistan, and also evidence of how music could help artists transcend geographic borders to produce art that was unique, futuristic and of highest international standards.”
The News International
