Bird: A Love Song
An immersive artwork responding to extinction, grief and hope.
Bird: A Love Song is an immersive outdoor sound installation and participatory project created by In Between Time in collaboration with young people. Blending art, ecology and collective storytelling, the work invites audiences to pause, listen and reflect on our relationship with the natural world.
At the heart of the project is a haunting recording: the final known song of the last Kauaʻi ʻōʻō bird, heard calling endlessly for a mate that would never answer. From this profound moment of loss, Bird creates space for something else to emerge — connection, imagination and hope. Through workshops with young people, new voices, sounds and stories are gathered and woven into a powerful collective soundscape that responds to the silence left behind.
Designed for gardens, churchyards, cemeteries, heritage sites and outdoor cultural spaces, Bird offers audiences a gentle but deeply affecting encounter with nature, biodiversity and the future we are shaping together.
About the Project
Bird begins with a single voice.
In 1987, the last known Kauaʻi ʻōʻō sang into the forests of Hawaiʻi before the species disappeared forever. The recording of its call has become a symbol of the accelerating biodiversity crisis and the emotional weight of ecological loss.
Originally commissioned by National Trust, Tyntesfield, and created by In Between Time with artists Alex Bradley, China Blue Fish and Helen Cole, Bird: A Love Song transforms this moment into a shared act of reflection and response. Young participants explore feelings about climate change, extinction and the future through creative workshops using sound, breath, rhythm, language and imagination. Their whispers, songs, laughter and reflections become part of an evolving immersive composition experienced by audiences outdoors.
As visitors move through the landscape, hidden speakers carry fragments of birdsong and young voices through the space, gradually drawing audiences into a layered surround-sound installation. The result is both intimate and expansive — part memorial, part invitation, part collective call for change.
Why It Matters
At a time when biodiversity loss and climate anxiety are increasingly shaping young people’s lives, Bird creates space for collective reflection without losing sight of hope. Rather than focusing only on despair, the project centres creativity, care and imagination as ways of responding to ecological grief.
The work invites audiences of all ages to slow down, listen deeply and reconnect with the living world around them. At its heart, Bird is both a requiem for what has been lost and a promise to protect what remains.
Touring Information
Bird: A Love Song is designed as a flexible touring artwork suitable for a wide range of outdoor and heritage contexts. The project combines participatory engagement with an immersive installation, creating opportunities for meaningful local collaboration and audience connection.
Suitable for:
- Gardens and parks
- Heritage sites and National Trust properties
- Churches and cemeteries
- Outdoor festivals and public spaces
- Galleries and arts venues with outdoor elements
Format:
- Creative workshops with young people and community groups
- Immersive outdoor sound installation
- Flexible duration and scalable installation footprint
The project can be adapted to different landscapes and locations, with opportunities for local young people and communities to contribute new voices and responses as part of each presentation.
For partnership and presentation enquiries, please get in touch.