Concepts of Freedom

A Story & Sound Experience

Immerse yourself in a dynamic world of stories and sound that merges the tales of Surinamese women with captivating data sonification. This interactive digital display breathes life into data, orchestrating a melodic backdrop for seven stories of women searching for freedom throughout Suriname’s history.

Created by 

Tirzah Baank
Tanya Sitaram 
Iwan Brave
Connor McMullen
DALL-E 2

About this Project

We start, as always, with the stories. They were collected over a series of months of discussions, questions, and deep dives into the internet. We told more than 40 stories amongst ourselves, but many were too complicated, personal, or intense to share here. These, along with those untold, we hold dear to our hearts.

Each of the data sonifications you hear is based on data gathered from the World Bank, CBS, and Wikipedia. I used a rigorous process to create these sounds. Though it is creative, this data is as true as any graphic. 

The art is largely in thanks to DALL-E 2, an Aritificial Intelligence artist. What you see is a composite of dozens of different images,  by me, Connor.  DALL-E 2 & I generated almost 1000 images for this one final look. I hope you will agree, it was worth it. 

The font used in this project is Eva, named for Eva Perón, an Argentinian women's rights activist. As first lady, she was largely responsible for a restructuring the budget to build hospital, schools, and charitable institutions throughout her country. She helped to ensure that in Argentina women had a right to vote. It is created by the Vocal Type Foundry. 

Funded by Spark Narration, a VersPers and ACED program.