Secular song brings Mosque and Cathedral together
Commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11, a recital of John Lennon’s famous anti war song ‘Imagine’ will be performed on the bells of Exeter Cathedral on Sunday 11th September 2011 and broadcast online so the peal can be heard worldwide. The event combines a folk art form with digital technology to raise questions about religious tolerance and world citizenship.
The one-off recital will be performed by Exeter Society of Bell Ringers and preceded by a peace walk from Exeter Mosque to Exeter Cathedral. The event will be used to inspire discussion in schools across the UK through a social media project produced in partnership with education specialist DigitalME and the Imperial War Museum.
Martyn Goss from the Diocese of Exeter said: ‘To mark our interdependence, there will be a silent walk of solidarity in commemoration of those, and their loved ones, who died ten years ago on 9/11. We will also remember those who have died in conflict and hostility in wars and other atrocities since, including the recent violent tragedy in Norway. We hope the peal of Imagine will send a plea for religious tolerance, world citizenship and human generosity that will be entirely fitting for this sad and difficult occasion.’
The Imagine recital was dreamed up by Cleo Evans, an associate artist with PVA MediaLab. She says: ‘Although the song was written forty years ago, its relevance is as strong as ever with religious intolerance continuing to increase globally. By being performed from a place of worship, this secular song powerfully comments upon the role of religion and world citizenship in the 21st Century. ‘Imagine’ infers there should be greater religious tolerance and speaks strongly of the need for peace’
Locals and visitors are urged to be part of this unique event by coming to the live performance, and joining the peace walk which starts at 8pm on the 11th September and leads from Exeter Mosque to the Cathedral. Those who can’t attend can listen live online at www.imagineproject.info
Church bells are not designed for reproducing conventional melodies so the recital presents an enormous creative and technical challenge for the man tasked with arranging and ‘conducting’ the performance. Ian Avery, member of the Exeter Cathedral Society of Bell ringers has been change ringing for 50 years and says the team of six volunteer bell ringers have now graduated from rehearsing the melody on hand bells to using the Cathedral’s legendary bells.
Imagine began as part of US-based Interdependence Day, an international movement of artists, academics, politicians and faith leaders promoting world citizenship. However in August this organisation decided the recital was too controversial and removed their support claiming that the event was ‘anti national’.
When ‘Imagine’ was piloted at Liverpool Cathedral in 2009, it provoked much comment due to the lyrical content of the song and Lennon’s pronouncement that it was ‘anti-religious’. An online poll conducted by The Church Times saw 60% object to the proposal, while on Facebook Yoko Ono posted a link to a Liverpool Daily Post story about the performance along with the comment “This is so beautiful, the sound of your bells will travel around the world.”
This is a one off opportunity to hear this unique recital live:
Sunday 11th Sept 2011
8.00pm – Peace walk from Exeter Mosque to Exeter Cathedral
8.30pm – Recital and online broadcast (5 mins duration)
Free
More details at www.imagineproject.info
Listen here live on 11 Sept using any iPhone and Android smartphone, iPad, iPod Touch or desktop/laptop computer with an internet connection. A recording will be available immediately following the broadcast.
Funded by Arts Council of England
Contact for further information contact Cleo Evans: 07900576190 / cleoevans@hotmail.com
