You are a shining diamond inside
Abstract
How might the notion of sonic citizenship hold potential to expand and reimagine our ideas of citizenship? This audio paper seeks out sites and structures where citizenship is contested, exploring how such systems of exclusion are expressed and resisted in sonic terms, and how practices of sounding and listening might offer more inclusive and convivial ways to imagine how and to what we belong. By tuning in to sonic fragments from a prison choir in Dublin, a band in Oslo, a sweat lodge community in Iceland, and artists in Australian immigration detention, together we explore how to listen through walls and beyond carceral systems, towards collective futures.
Audio paper
Acknowledgements
Most of the audio recordings featured in this paper have been gathered as part of Prisons of Note, a project on music and incarceration in Norway, Iceland and Ireland, funded by the Research Council of Norway (2022-’26). Several of the voices featured here were recorded at Pros and Cons, a symposium on music and incarceration held inside Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison in May 2024, co-hosted by InHouse Harmony choir, SOLAS and Prisons of Note, and featuring musical performances and round table conversations (see Barry, 2024). In Cork Prison, Hannah Healy hosted and inspired us, as did her incarcerated students. In Iceland, we were warmly welcomed by Batahús and Afstađa, and in Norway we have collaborated closely with Venjas Harem and the organization Musikk i fengsel og frihet (Music in Custody and Liberty). Research Assistant Noah Krogsholm has enriched the project significantly with creative ideas, technical prowess and enthusiasm. Further recordings, from the Manus Recording Project Collective and the Pfft Ensemble, are used with permission. Many of these sites of sonic citizenship are discussed in greater depth in several further publications, including Sound and Detention: Towards critical listening, sonic citizenship and social justice (2026).
We are indebted to everyone who has taken time to talk, sing, host, and think with us. We sincerely hope that this collective work can help raise awareness of the damage caused by prisons, and the potential of music-making communities to model restorative and prefigurative practices.
Keywords
Bibliography
Andrisani, V. (2017). Inventing Havana in Thin Air: Sound, Space, and the Making of Sonic Citizenship. (Doctoral dissertation). Simon Fraser University
Barry, A. (2024). “By a lonely prison wall: how a choir in Mountjoy is unlocking prisoner potential”. In Irish Times, 30 May. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/2024/05/30/by-a-lonely-prison-wall-how-a-choir-in-mountjoy-is-unlocking-prisoner-potential/
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Cathcart Frödén, L., Herrity, K. & Á. Mangaoang (eds.) (2026). Sound & Detention: Towards critical listening, sonic citizenship, & social justice. Bloomsbury Academic.
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Audio recordings (in order of appearance)
Theresa May, Conservative Party Conference speech (2016)
Trump fans chant “build the wall” at rally in Rochester (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je_lJi6ZPYE
Excerpt from “Unheard by Most,” a soundscape recorded and produced in Cork prison in 2024, by two music students who the prison does not allow to be named and credited.
InHouse Harmony choir sing “The Auld Triangle” (composed by Dicky Shannon), recorded by the Prisons of Note project in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin (2024)
Interviews with InHouse Harmony choir members, recorded by the Prisons of Note project in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin (2024)
Shadd Maruna, recorded by the Prisons of Note project at Mountjoy Prison, Dublin (2024)
InHouse Harmony choir sing “Raw” (original composition by inside choir member John), in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin (2024) https://theprogressionsessions.bandcamp.com/album/the-progression-sessions
Venjas Harem sing “Skifri himmel” (composed by Bjørn Eidsvåg), recorded by the Prisons of Note project at rehearsals in Oslo (2024)
Hege Johansen from Venjas Harem (recorded by the Prisons of Note team at rehearsals in Oslo, 2024), voiceover by Ieva Gudaitytė (2025)
Farhad Bandesh, walking the yard and feeding pigeons, (part of the “where are you today?” project) Manus Recording Project Collective (2020) https://manusrecordingproject.com/
Tolli Morthens interview, recorded by the Prisons of Note team in Reykjavík (2025)
Sweat Lodge singers hum “Sofðu unga ástin mín” (traditional air, text by Jóhann Sigurjónsson), recorded by the Prisons of Note team in Iceland (2025)
Pfft ensemble perform “Alex the Kid (Original Jam)” from their album Library Music (2022), recorded inside HMP Inverness, Scotland, and facilitated by sound artist and scholar Hector MacInnes https://pfftensemble.bandcamp.com/album/library-music
Additional credits
Script: Lucy Cathcart Frödén and Áine Mangaoang
Field recordings: Noah Krogsholm, Áine Mangaoang and Lucy Cathcart Frödén
Narration and production: Lucy Cathcart Frödén