UC QuakeBox opens in Cashel Mall to record earthquake experiences

Christchurch residents now have the opportunity to record their earthquake experiences.

The University of Canterbury’s QuakeBox recording studio will open in Cashel Mall tomorrow (April 21) as a part of Re:Start and will remain there until May 19, after which it is planned to move the recording booth around the city.

UC QuakeBox is a collaboration between the New Zealand Institute of Language Brain and Behaviour (NZILBB) and UC CEISMIC (Canterbury Earthquake Digital Archive).  Professor Jen Hay, Director of NZILBB, said that UC QuakeBox was just one of many projects that sat under the UC CEISMIC umbrella, but that the high quality digital recordings would be an invaluable archive and research tool in the future.

“We are interested in both the story that people have to tell, and also the way in which they tell the story. In particular we are looking for ‘top of mind’ experiences as those are obviously the ones of most importance at this time.

“Each person has an option of an audio or video recording and the recordings will be used by people who research story-telling, language and earthquakes to better understand peoples’ experiences of the earthquakes and also to study how people tell stories,” she said.

The booth will be staffed by University of Canterbury internees and researchers.

“Some may just want to tell their story, while others may want to be interviewed and our staff will be able to do this.

“We are looking to get as wide a cross-section of people as possible, in as many languages as possible. We are also very keen to record those who are multi-lingual so we can compare the content and how they tell their same story in different languages,” she said.

There are several confidentiality options available to those taking part.

“Story-tellers can choose whether to participate anonymously, or whether they would like their name associated with their story.  They can also choose whether the video gets stored, or only the audio.   There are also a range of available options about who can access the recorded story, from only allowing researchers to have access, through to having them widely available to a worldwide audience. Participants will be able to change their consent options once they have recorded their story,” she said.

UC QuakeBox was trialled on campus before being moved into Cashel Mall.  It will be operational in Cashel Mall every day except Monday, from 10am-3pm.