Imagine strolling through Beijing’s historic hutongs as a symphony of fluttering pigeon whistles fills the air 🎵—a sound that’s been fading fast amid rapid urbanization. Enter British-Chinese sound artist Colin Chinnery, a modern-day archivist blending art and anthropology to preserve this auditory legacy. His latest mission? Saving the ‘鸽哨’ (gē shào), bamboo whistles tied to pigeons’ legs—a practice dating back over 1,000 years to the Song Dynasty.
Teaming up with 72-year-old craftsman Zhang Baotong, one of Beijing’s last pigeon whistle artisans 🛠️, Chinnery documents the intricate process of carving and tuning these delicate instruments. ‘It’s like time travel through sound,’ Chinnery says. ‘Each whistle pitch reflects different dynasties—history you can literally hear.’
Once ubiquitous, these whistles now face extinction as pigeon-keeping declines in modern apartments. Chinnery’s recordings, shared globally via immersive exhibitions 🌐, offer a sonic lifeline. ‘Cities evolve, but losing these sounds means losing cultural DNA,’ he adds. For young creatives and history buffs, this collab is a 🎧 remix of tradition and tech—proving even ancient arts can trend in the TikTok era.
