‘Heaven in the Ground’ tells the story of the earth underneath our feet, and the bedrock as a great connector which holds all histories (prehistoric, colonial, personal) as well as possible futures. The work explores concepts of the afterlife, the relationship between life and death, and the need to acknowledge the labour of other species. DARCH ask us to consider the soil, and the bedrock that holds it up, as a space that is shared equally amongst all species – plants, animals and our ancestors, both human and more-than-human – and one through which we can collectively bring into being a gentler and more compassionate world.

This soundwork consists of an audio story which is a speculative fiction piece that follows the artist’s, Radha and Umulkhayr after they have died and have been buried in the ground separately. As their bodies decompose – returning their spirits to the soil, they seek to find each other and it is the bacteria and insects they meet in the soil who offer to guide them back to each other, at the meeting place of spirits, the Bedrock. And as they guide Radha and Umulkhayr along this journey they talk about life and death, human supremacy, deconstructing faith traditions and weaving together a new/old story of the afterlife that gives us (humans and the more-than-human) another chance to find the sacredness and solidarity that the soil holds. The soundscape that is underscoring the story and is played in the gallery, collages together samples from songs connected to the artists cultural and religious upbringings, sound archives, and original composed elements that make audible the liveness of the Earth, its underground inhabitants and its utopian qualities.