When the Pandemic Came, It Started To Rain (English)

Latinos Positivos, David Wall, 2023, audio installation

A white gallery wall with large black exhibition text, a reader rail and two sets of headphones. A white gallery wall with large black exhibition text, a reader rail, and two sets of headphones on our right. The exhibition wall text is titled, “When the Pandemic Came, It Started To Rain,” and is repeated in three different languages, Anishinaabemowin, English, then French. Underneath that, wavy black and dotted lines flow along the edge of the wall. A plastic chair is set in front of the headphones.

Audio

Installation Details

This soundscape combines audio recordings documented during a workshop with Latinos Positivos, where local community members reflected upon the loneliness and grief they felt during the pandemic. While using spoken word and percussion instruments throughout this piece, many of these testimonials are also accompanied by the repetitive sounds of water, such as raindrops and dripping faucets.

This artwork is a collaboration between Latinos Positivos, an organization supporting Toronto’s Latinx HIV-positive communities, and composer, lyricist, singer, and vocal coach David Wall. The community members who participated in this soundscape prefer to remain anonymous.

About the Artist

A photo of a bearded man with light skin tone in front of a choppy lake. A photo of David Wall taken from the waist up in front of a choppy lake. He is a dark haired, bearded man with light skin tone wearing a dark blue jean jacket. He looks directly at us with a neutral expression and binoculars hang from his neck.