Radio Papesse

See the Nine is a soundscape that highlights the role that tourism, consumerism and technology have played in disrupting the natural acoustics of the ancient wonders of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

The area around the pyramids, the neighbourhood of Nazlet El-Semman is controversial. The Egyptian government has recently approved a plan for the demolition of numerous buildings, unauthorized houses and shops that besiege the archeological site. These buildings - the government say - distort the image of the archaeological site that tourists from around the world have come to enjoy.

So what’s happening now is that an area that is built because of the economic system driven by tourism, is now considered a national shame in regard to the international tourists who, in Giza, still do expect to find a kind of movie set.

See the nine, a field recording by Lauren Bickerdike, brings us back to the reality of a community that is living on the tourist value of the pyramids, a community with a specific, contemporary, hectic, noisy soundscape that is totally dissonant with the western imaginary of that area.

Lauren Bickerdike's practise explores daily life in societies through the mechanism of sound. Through the form of soundscapes her work questions the value of imagery in learning about and appriciating life in different cultures.