Birds hover above your head, connected by red threads, moving gently through the air. Each little bird is an instrument: a whistle, a bellows, a sound. You don’t need to be able to read music. You don’t need to know anything about music. You simply pick up a bird and blow.
153 Returning Birds is an immersive sound installation by the Chinese artist Ban Lei, in which the audience themselves are the composers. The 153 sculptures fill the space with an organic landscape of sounds and chance. They come in three sizes, like three generations: grandparents, parents and children. When strangers hold onto each other’s red strings, something unexpected happens: a gesture of connection, a smile, a shared sound.
The work has already travelled to various locations across Europe, evoking the same response everywhere: people playing together, laughing and connecting through music that nobody planned. No electricity, no screen, no instructions. Just wood, paper, breath and people.