Dundee, a city long-synonymous with tangerines, Desperate Dan, and premium golden fibres is now also the site for one of the world's most exciting design museums.

The V&A Dundee, designed by none other than Kengo Kuma, opened its doors in summer 2018, and to coincide with the reopening, our sonic collaboration brings visitors to a greater appreciation of the space + its visionary architecture.

It's quite a building ...

Composer-percussionist Midori Takada created a soundtrack for the inside of the museum, inspired by Kuma's use of timber – with the vast wooden interior panels brought into a world of sound through sensitive marimba instrumentation.

Her piece also evokes something of Dundee's seafaring past, and the V&A's position at the forefront of its maritime present in the Tay Estuary, with references to the water and whales who live within it.

Inspired by notions of impermanence, SHHE's durational work "~" for the V&A's exterior is shaped by the elemental surrounds of the museum's location – with the Tay Estuary serving as a jump-off point from which to explore spatial and temporal themes that permeate nature.

The installation invites a dynamic approach to listening, gently guiding focus and attention to the natural sonic environments present in the plaza space + public walkways.

Exploring and examining the role of nature as a composer

Developed in collaboration with artists and designers Tommy Perman and Simon Kirby, SHHE'S work reflects and resonates the living-breathing aquatic soundworlds of the Tay and Kuma's landscaped pools to create a live optical soundtrack:

With real-time sonic responses to the movements of the water, passers-by, and even changes in the atmosphere, a constantly-evolving sonic experience has been created that ensures every audio encounter is unique.