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A Kind of Hush

ENCOUNTERS IN SOUND AND LISTENING

Catcher Media present their new project A Kind of Hush, which takes place in the centre of Hereford from 14th-16th November 2025. Join us for a series of listening activities featuring gong baths, a den sculpture, kissa-bar DJ sessions and an oral history workshop alongside sound and video installations. 
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A Kind of Hush encourages conversation, relaxation, play, sanctuary and a sense of connection. We are offering a much-needed temporary disconnection from our noisy, information-overloaded, screen-based world via a series of immersive and communal listening experiences.
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With 30 years of participatory work involving recording and listening attentively to people’s stories and experiences, we recognise the value of these skills and want to invite people to celebrate the art of listening. NB: Targeted community groups are invited to closed sessions. This pilot project is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

/ Kissa Bar DJ

Join us for aKissa* Bar DJ-set, inspired by a 100-year old Japanese tradition where music is played for dedicated listening rather than as background music. The county’s most individual DJ jus’ jay will present a beautifully curated set of vinyl-only sounds and musical delights to encourage a relaxed and focussed experience.

Enjoy jay’s fluid mixes which create a mood that’s totally his own.

* From Ongaku kissa – meaning ‘listening bars’ or ‘audiophile sanctuaries’. 

/ Gong Bath

Lizzie Eggerton invites you to take some time for yourself and allow the deep immersive sounds of gongs to lead you into an all-encompassing sound meditation. Giving your thinking mind the chance to rest as gentle vibrations from the gongs wash through the body. Hence this form of sound therapy being given the name: gong bath. No water involved!

/ Den-Dwelling

Julia Goldsmith will create a site responsive den sculpture which invites people to have playful and meaningful conversations within its calming space, a special place of reflection and contemplation. The acoustics within the den allow for a muting of the outside world.Stay a while and enjoy new connections and rediscover the joy of den-dwelling.

/ Human-powered Music Machines

Bear Kenchington – artist, maker and musician, has exhibited across the UK, Europe and Canada, and been interviewed by BBC Radio 3 and 4. Much of their work centres around human-powered music-making mechanics. Bear will be premiering an interactive sound machine that invites the audience to a co-operative listening game based on bell-ringing patterns. The work is informed by their own bell ringing experience and research of Herefordshire church bells. 

PLUS: Don’t miss a chance to have a go on Bear’s self-build ping-pong orchestra. (Very) family-friendly.

/ Listening video installation

Rick Goldsmith’s better known as a participatory film-maker, but this video installation showcases a different side of his film-making practice, a more personal one. The piece still involves a participatory element, as it explores the act of listening as an intensely individual and nuanced human activity.

/ Oral History Workshop

Come along and learn the art of recording your family and/or friends in our technology-lite introduction to oral history. The emphasis in this workshop will be on active listening and how best to create a rapport and a dialogue with the people whose stories you want to capture on video/audio. This teaser workshop is led by Julia and Rick Goldsmith, from Catcher Media (who created Stories From the Hop Yards and Chewing The Cud). Bring a smartphone or video camera and 2-3 photos of yourself and a personal object.

“Many people take refuge in headphones, but they turn big, public spaces, shared soundscapes, into millions of tiny, little personal sound bubbles. In this scenario, nobody’s listening to anybody. We’re becoming impatient. We don’t want oratory anymore; we want sound bites. And the art of conversation is being replaced – dangerously, I think – by personal broadcasting. I don’t know how much listening there is in this kind of conversation, which is sadly very common, especially in the UK.

We’re becoming de-sensitized. Our media have to scream at us with these kinds of headlines in order to get our attention. And that means it’s harder for us to pay attention to the quiet, the subtle, the understated. This is a serious problem that we’re losing our listening. This is not trivial, because listening is our access to understanding. Conscious listening always creates understanding. A world where we don’t listen to each other at all is a very scary place indeed.”

Julian Treasure – 5 Ways to Listen Better

Photo credits (from top): Richard Alsop, Eggie, Julia and Rick Goldsmith

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  • "Wonderfully ambitious and beautifully realised too"

    Daniel Meadows, renowned photographer

  • “Catcher’s approach to heritage is outstanding; the quality, accessibility and beauty of their work means that the community are drawn to their projects”

    Hannah McSherry, Herefordshire Council

  • "As well as working with a wide range of Herefordshire heritage, arts and community organisations, Catcher Media has been committed to boosting skills, employment and economic development within the county."

    Jenni Waugh Consulting Ltd.

  • "We have worked with Catcher Media for many years on several diverse cultural and heritage projects including large heritage projects of regional and national importance and we have come to rely on their expertise"

    Jan Nesaratnam, Senior Librarian at Herefordshire Library Service

  • Our collaborations with Catcher Media have been hugely valuable in the cultural life of Herefordshire and the wider region."

    Jon Chedgzoy, Museums, Libraries & Archives Manager at Herefordshire Council

  • "Catcher Media have made a vital contribution, not just in our county but to the heritage, culture and arts of this country as a whole"

    Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP, Member of Parliament for Hereford & South Herefordshire

  • "The powerful and beautifully produced films reached huge, enthusiastic audiences that crossed generations and brought the past to life"

    Rhys Griffith, Senior Archivist at Herefordshire Archive and Records Centre

  • "Catcher Media's oral history projects just get better and better."

    Audience member


  • "We often have people coming here with cameras but you are interested in us, and what we are actually doing."

    Marcin Lisowski, Polish migrant worker

  • "I firmly believe that to honour our ancestors is a very special thing, to bring them to life."

    Raine Geoghegan, Romani poet
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