A Requiem for Edward Snowden

A Requiem for Edward Snowden is a new audio-visual performance work created by composer Matthew Collings and video artist Jules Rawlinson. Performed live by Collings and Rawlinson with clarinettist Pete Furniss, Emma Lloyd (violin) and Clea Friend (cello). A Requiem for Edward Snowden plays against a background of video projections incorporating images from live cameras, stock footage and hacked documents. It will be performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August as part of Made in Scotland — a programme which showcases the best Scottish work to audiences and promoters from around the world. Described by its creators as a ‘digital opera’, it is based around the actions and decisions of whistleblower Edward Snowden. It focuses on themes which are extremely relevant to how we live in the 21st century: loss of faith and security, the hacking of digital media, invasion of privacy and personal sacrifice. Snowden’s revelations have shown that we live in a world where we are totally reliant not just on electronic communication, but on daily routines in which our privacy is routinely compromised. The phones that we carry with us in our pockets not only keep us connected to the world, but also allow others to delve into our most personal data. A Requiem for Edward Snowden explores the consequences of this through a combination of electronic sound, acoustic instrumentation and live visuals in a 50 minute-long performance. A Requiem for Edward Snowden was developed with a Creative Scotland Artist’s Bursary and in collaboration with New Media Scotland and Edinburgh College of Art. It was premiered in October 2014 to a sell-out audience at Edinburgh’s Reid Concert Hall, and was subsequently performed at the CCA in Glasgow in March 2015.