The Wilkinsburg Walking Tour is an audio guide directed by Christina Molldrem Harkulich. It is part of The Intersection, a curatorial project organized by Aaron Henderson that uses technology and narrative to create immersive experiences that celebrate the diversity and possibility of storytelling.
Every day people from the suburbs pass through Wilkinsburg, PA to get to their jobs in the city. They pass through, but they don’t stop. Wilkinsburg’s reputation within the greater Pittsburgh area is as an area of violence, blight, and crime. Yet, there are lives of positivity lived on the streets of this urban suburb. The crime statistics have fallen in Wilkinsburg since 2010, but the narrative in the news about Wilkinsburg is always peppered by crime, violence, poverty, and race relations. This project’s goal is to add to the narratives of the space through the people who live there, adding human encounters and stories of the space that change the way we understand what Wilkinsburg is. The project is conceived as a digital walking tour.
The Intersection
As you walk through the world, imagine being given instantaneous access to the stories, perspectives and experiences of others that you pass by.
"Space is the simultaneity of stories so far" - Doreen Massey
The Intersection is a series of audio guides that use contemporary mobile technologies to foreground voices that are often left out of the conversation. The series will initially consist of a walking tour of Wilkinsburg and a guide created by high school students for a photography exhibition, but it will hopefully be utilized to enhance our experience of many other places, spaces and things. Each guide will be led by a knowledgeable source, who may enlist the help of other artists, students and community members to share their stories and reflections. Where appropriate, the audio guides will use photo and video content to support the storytelling.
Christiana Molldrem Harkulich, Theatre Arts, University of Pittsburgh
Aaron Henderson, Studio Arts, University of Pittsburgh