‘SPA SONGS’ by Fay Zmija Nicolson

SPA SONGS by Fay Zmija Nicolson // 

SPA SONGS was performed in the underground tunnel shaft at the Brunel Museum in 2018. The work uses Bermondsey’s history as a point of departure, taking its name from an underground river which often bursts through the tarmac on Spa Road. Motifs of flooding and burning, communing and dissolution cycle through the work – recalling Bermondsey’s location on the River and its history as the site of a former Cluniac monastery, docks, warehouses, and artist’s studios. Nicolson originally recorded SPA SONGS as a series of demos layering her own voice. For the live work Nicolson used choreography and graphic scores to teach the piece so that sound and movement are intertwined in the performance of the work. 

Music and Lyrics by Fay Nicolson

Performed at The Brunel Museum, London UK, 2018

Performers: Alistair Coffey, Rachel Horwood, Sarah Johns, Jenny Moore, Fay Nicolson, Colleen O’Brien, Louise O’Connor

Still photography: Alex Rimmer

Camera: Johnston Sheard

Production, costume and make up: Fay Nicolson

Additional production: Heather Blair at DKUK

Video editing: Fay Nicolson

Performance commissioned by DKUK

Video commissioned by Kristian Day

With special thanks to Arts Council England, a-n Artist Bursaries 2018, DKUK, Daniel Kelly, Heather Blair, Thomas Cuckle & Kunstraum, Kristian Day, Katy Edwards, Andy Woolliscroft, the Brunel Museum, Sophie Mallett.