Soundart Radio

Soundart Radio is an independent, non-commercial arts and community station serving Dartington and Totnes in South Devon. Its programme treats radio as a creative medium, with space for sound work, documentary, conversation and music chosen by volunteer contributors. The station provides resources and encouragement for people to develop ideas, including those approaching broadcasting for the first time.

DJ mixes share the schedule with Devon voices and experimental programmes. The range is deliberately broad: listeners may encounter local discussion, recorded environments or an artist's composition rather than a conventional sequence of chart songs. Participation is part of the station's artistic approach, with contributors bringing their own experience and methods to the work they broadcast.

Framework is one example of that approach. The programme explores field recording and the use of sounds from real environments in composition. Its regular editions combine contributions from listeners and the field-recording community, while the alternating Framework:afield strand is curated by guest artists around their own recordings, ideas and themes. The programme began on London's Resonance in 2002 and is carried by Soundart as part of a wider international exchange of audio work.

Through the Radia network, Soundart participates in an exchange of radio artworks. Member stations take turns producing a programme that the others broadcast, bringing work from different local artistic communities to a shared audience. This gives the Dartington-based service an international dimension alongside its Devon contributors. Soundart also belongs to the Community Media Association and operates as a not-for-profit arts organisation at Dartington Hall.