Listen: Experiences of Rain

Seven co-creators with lived experience of migration worked with poet, storyteller and musician Tawona Ganyamatopé Sitholé and sound artist Ros Fraser to explore a planet defined by rainy weather. Between us, a new sound recording about rain's personal legacies was produced. Listen to 'Experiences of Rain' below or hear it in person at our 'Rain' exhibition (on until 30 April 2027).

Listen to 'Experiences of Rain'

Read the 'Experiences of Rain' transcript online or download it as a PDF [601.09KB; 8 pages].

Creating the sound piece

We gather in October, the start of the season of rainy days and fireside tales. We sit in a circle on a carpet, with a plastic umbrella I've placed between us, and share our memories, recovered from lives lived all over the world. Collectively, we bring stories and heritage from Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Taiwan, Kenya, Pakistan, England, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Scotland and England.

Some of these places are abundant with rain year-round. Others are defined by monsoon seasons and storms, and by water scarcity. Although the experience of rain is common to people around the world, how we encounter it is not.

Prince tells a story from his childhood: of playing football and chasing lizards in Nigeria. We hear about the joy felt by a community when the first long-awaited rains soak the ground, the thrumming noise of raindrops on tin roofs, sheltering families. Smells and tastes, too, such as the warmth from freshly prepared pakora, described by Sadaf and Anwar, the perfect food to eat at the start of monsoon season.

Hope explains that in her home country, Taiwan, paper weather dolls are hung from windows to summon or ward off rain. The dolls are thought to originate from a time in Taiwan's history when it was colonised by Japan, sparking a wider conversation about inherited traditions, cross-cultural practices and power.

"Rain is one example of intangible heritage. It is fluid. How people feel about rain in Scotland is different from people in Kenya. When you start this conversation, you will bring all kinds of understanding about the world from different regions."
- Hsiao-Chiang (Hope) Wang, Experiences of Rain co-creator

We continue our wide-ranging conversations, sometimes poignant or linked to complicated histories, but always received with curiosity and interest. Through our interactions, we realise how rain can be an enabler for discussions around cultural confluence and divergence, as well as ecological and historical reflection.

"Rain is a bridge, it connects the heavens and the earth. Rain is a blessing. Rain is a memory. Good things and bad things."
- Ghanima, Experiences of Rain co-creator

The final sound piece is a thirteen-minute-long fluid interpretation of rain's global importance told through personal memories, song and myth. It celebrates rain's potential as a shared heritage while also acknowledging important differences in how that is experienced.