Eavesdropping

Documentary | Sound Art | Living Archive | Long form listening ( in)

Eavesdropping functions as a living archive: an ongoing, participatory collection of conversations, noises, and songs from women walking at night in cities — always expanding, never complete.

A sound project born out of Women Walk at Midnight, It emerges from years of walking and listening — listening to conversations between women, to the rhythms of cities at night, to silence, laughter, and song.
One of the most frequent questions we are asked is: “What happens on the walks?” Our answer has always been: a lot happens, and yet nothing happens.

Eavesdropping is a way of opening that space to others — an invitation to long-form listening, to experience what unfolds when women walk together at night.
The recordings are kept largely unedited. They carry the ambient world of the walk — the footsteps, street sounds, noise, silences, chatter, laughter, conversations, and songs. They allow listeners to hear what we hear, and to return to those nights later. At the same time, it is not always possible to publish every walk in full. Some conversations need different contexts, times, and spaces before they can be shared.

Eavesdropping is at once documentary and living archive, a gathering of secrets carried in voices and silences. The use of audio lends anonymity, allowing women to speak freely, while the recorder simply listens. As walks take place in different parts of the world, we have the possibility to string together sound pieces that trace overlaps and departures, weaving a chorus that is both local and global.

As the practice Women Walk at Midnight enters its tenth year, Eavesdropping becomes a deep dive into the world of the night in cities — as seen, felt, and heard by women.