Soundings is an ambitious exhibition by Emma Critchley that poetically delves into the politics of the deep sea through a film and sound installation with live dance, exploring our connection to this unseen world that may imminently become the new frontier of extractivism.
Soundings opens Friday 10th October between 7pm-9pm and the exhibition runs until Friday 19th December 2025.
Sheds light on deep-sea
Timed with a pivotal moment in global ocean policy, Soundings sheds light on deep-sea mining as the International Seabed Authority moves to finalise regulations in July this year.
Emma Critchley has long engaged with the critical yet little-known issue of deep-sea mining. The deep seabed—a shared human responsibility—is essential for climate regulation and life support.
Although mining hasn’t begun, in 2023 a two-year roadmap was set to finalise a mining code for future operations. Soundings gathers diverse perspectives, offering a counter-position to those pushing for commercial seabed mining.
Expansive film installation
Through an expansive film installation, Soundings brings together a kaleidoscope of perspectives—from the intimate encounter between a dancer and a deep-sea creature to ancient narratives about our connection to the ocean, from journeys across the first-hand-drawn maps of abyssal plains to the voices of Pacific activists resisting seabed mining.
Live dance collaboration
On select days, dancer Rosalind Noctor will perform live within the exhibition, responding in movement to the sea creatures on screen—a collaboration with choreographer Siobhan Davies and dancer Maya Carroll that enacts a way of being attuned to nature’s rhythms.
The exhibition also highlights Rights of the Deep, a co-written open letter by Pacific activists, legal scholars, and marine scientists calling for deep-ocean protection as part of the Rights of Nature movement.
Integral public engagement
Public engagement has been integral to the making of Soundings. Research events in partnership with TBA21-Academy, John Hansard Gallery, Tate St Ives, and Quay Arts invited audiences into dialogues with marine biologists, ocean law experts, and Indigenous activists, informing the final artwork.
Live performances
On Friday 10th October 7pm-9pm, all are welcome to join us at Quay Arts for Soundings Launch Event, which includes a live dance performance from 7.40pm onwards.
Live dance performances will continue on Saturday 11th October 10am-4pm, including an informal Q&A with the artist Emma Critchley at 11am-12pm, West Gallery.
Another live dance performance will take place on Sun 16th November 10am-4pm. Timings schedule available on Quay Arts website soon.
Further live dance performance dates and times can be found on the Quay Arts website.
Quay Arts will be hosting a Contemporary Dance Masterclass Saturday 13th December, more details coming soon on the Quay Arts website.
Support for the exhibition
Soundings is supported by John Hansard Gallery, Tate St Ives, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts and Brighton Festival with public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
It is presented in cooperation with John Hansard Gallery, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Brighton Festival, Tate St Ives and Quay Arts. Soundings was also kindly supported by South East Dance.
Rights of the Deep was originally commissioned by Science Gallery, London. Quay Arts Isle of Wight is a National Portfolio Organisation supported by Arts Council England.
About the artist
Emma Critchley is an artist who uses water as a formal material property within varied media including film, photography, sound, installation and writing. Her work explores the underwater environment as a political, philosophical and environmental space. Emma is an alumni of the Royal College of Art and her work has been shown extensively in galleries and institutions nationally and internationally. She has also co-produced and presented shows for BBC Radio 4.
Between 2016 and 2018 she made Common Heritage, a short film funded by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation about deep-sea mining for deep seabed minerals, which became the precursor to Soundings. In collaboration with artist Lee Berwick, in 2020 Emma developed a large-scale public soundscape about underwater acoustic pollution, working with scientists across the globe, the British Antarctic Survey and the Californian Ocean Alliance.
Installed in the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, London, the work launched the National Maritime Museum’s ‘Our Ocean, Our Planet season’. In 2019, Emma won the Earth Water Sky residency programme with Science Gallery Venice, where she spent a year working with the Ice Memory Project. The resulting multi-screen film installation Witness premiered in the Italian Pavilion of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021.
Her ongoing investigative project Soundings tours UK venues in 2025, taking audiences on a journey to the deep, through film, sound and dance, bringing to light the pressing issue of deep-sea mining during a pivotal year. Visit Emma’s website for more information.
News shared by Alicia on behalf of Quay Arts. Ed
