sound art is concerned with sound as both medium and subject – in its presence and in its absence.

It can take the form of performance, installation, sculpture, spoken word, or experiments in listening — often overlaping with music, poetry, and visual arts practice.

Plug it Up is a DIY sound art festival combining workshops and performances led by female & marginalised gender artists who are working with sound in innovative ways. Local artists will be platformed alongside national and international artists in this 3 day event. Abstract Turntablist Maria Chávez will be flying in from New York to construct her hauntingly unique live sound collages using broken up vinyl and shellac. Artist Ann Rosén will be arriving from Sweden to perform Drawing Sounds using her invention the Pencil Barrier/Graphite Barrier, an instrument that relies on the conductive quality of graphite to produce electronic sounds. There will be interludes of sound poetry and music where audiences can also participate if they book a slot in advance, and workshops to learn how to compose sound spatially using graphic scores and deep listening, build synthesisers from pom-poms, and make a radio. Sunday will be a family day, making musical instruments from upcycled junk and emerging Bradford sound artists will present work they have developed as part of our seed commission. 

The festival is produced by Bradford Sound Wom*n Network, with the support of Yorkshire Sound Women Network, in-kind support from Theatre in the Mill and funded by Bradford 2025.