‘Whose Side Are You On?’

Sound Installation for single speaker. 16'09"

The first record of a canary being used in a coal mine as an early detector of Carbon Monoxide and other dangerous gasses dates back to 1906, although the practice was believed to be commonplace already in the late decades of the 1800s. By 1911 regulations had been introduced to insist that miners should use ‘two small caged birds each time they went down the mine. The canary’s role in mines became so engrained in the English language that “a canary in the coalmine” grew into a well-known phrase, used to refer to early indicators of potential hazards. The birds were highly sensitive to gasses and a break in their singing was a potential sign they had passed-out or even died, thus meaning the mine was unsafe for use.

Women Against Pit Closures was a political movement supporting miners and their families in the UK miners’ strike of 1984-1985. The movement is credited with bringing feminist ideas into practice in an industrial dispute and empowering women to take a public role in a community with a male-dominated sphere. Their group and support work grew from the communal feeding of families in April and May 1984 to a more explicitly political role. A multitude of local support groups were set up early on in the year-long strike.

A notable early event Women Against Pit Closures movement in the was a rally at the end of May 1984, held in Barnsley which was attended by 5000 women from coalfields across the country, from Scotland to Kent. This was followed by a conference in June and a large protest march in London on 11 August 1984. 23,000 working-class women attended that event, joined by other women trade unionists

“As we passed Downing Street we became silent as we stopped our singing. We donned black scarves, and arm bands and wore black flowers in memory of Davy Jones and Joe Green who had died on our picket lines. We averted our eyes as we marched past Thatcher’s residence to show our contempt”

The UK Miners’ strike of 1984-1985 was a major industrial action within the British coal industry in an attempt to prevent colliery closures. Opposition to the strike was led by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. During the strike, 11,291 people were arrested, reports of police brutality at protests were widespread and indeed three protesters were killed in events related to the strikes.

The miners’ strikes ended on March 3rd 1985 and the actions of the Conservative government in response to the movement led to extensive pit closures, enumerable job losses and the impoverishment and decimation of communities throughout the North of England and far beyond. This brief period of British history may be considered a notable early fracture in societal fabric of modern Britain from which no complete recovery was ever made.

The use of canaries as protection in coal mines in Britain ended officially on December 30th 1986, roughly one year after the cessation of the strikes. New plans from the government declared that an electronic detector with a digital reading, would replace the birds in warning of danger.

This piece comprises three recordings, one of the processed song of the common yellow canary, two excerpts from the protest song ‘Women of the Working Class’ from 1984 and a field recording from a mine in Bełchatów (Poland) at its lowest point of of 300m.