Audio project to capture the sounds of global migration

Palestinian children at a camp set up in Al-Durra Stadium in the central Gaza Strip

A bubbling pot of food, a demonstration and a family gathering - just some of the sounds of human global migration being turned into an online exhibition.

The organisers of the Migration Sounds project are asking for audio contributions recorded on one day - Saturday 24 February, to add to its existing bank of sounds.

It's a collaboration between Oxford University and the Cities and Memory project.

The captured audio will be added to a searchable online global map and used to inspire audio art projects.

Highlights will also be archived in the British Library.

"It's about how we use sound to reframe some of the conversations that are being had around migration," said Cities and Memory creator Stuart Fowkes.

"This is about reflecting on migration and settlement, home and exile, and return."

The Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (Compas) at Oxford University is helping to run the project.

Jacquline Broadhead, director of Compas, said: "We often think about migration in terms of numbers and news articles, or in political debate, but the reality of the process is fundamentally human.

"By recording these ordinary or extraordinary sounds, we can capture and share a bit of that human experience."

A demonstration in France in protest at the clearing of a migrant camp

The second phase will launch in April, with musicians and sound artists reimagining the bank of sound recordings into new art compositions.

Previous audio projects run by Cities and Memory include sounds from Covid lockdowns and obsolete sounds of disappearing technology and cultural traditions.