In March 2012, Paintings in Hospitals was gifted five posters by the London Transport Museum as part of the museum’s Access to Art initiative.

Five works representative of the golden age of poster design (1920–30s) were chosen, including a poetic depiction of Kew Gardens.

To celebrate the gift, we partnered with the London Transport Museum and invited a group of carers from Richmond to create a soundscape that would bring one of the posters alive. The group chose the Kew Gardens poster and worked with a sound engineer to capture some outdoor sounds in the gardens.

These were later edited and mixed with music reminiscent from the 1920s. The result is a track that captures and combines the essence of the poster’s illustration with the contemporary experience of Kew Gardens.

Listen to the soundscape:

The project had many positive outcomes for the participants:

“I am grateful to have been given the chance to take part in something so completely different from anything I have ever done before. It was so absorbing and interesting.”

“It was an interesting and enjoyable challenge, which opened up the opportunity to do something entirely new. I hope it will be beneficial to the viewers and listeners.”

“Very satisfying at a difficult time for me [caring wise], a refreshing and stimulating change, which opened up new areas in creativity.”

See more of our past projects...