Throughout 2008, prior to QUAD’s opening, 100 groups of 17 people from around Derby took part in The17: Slice Through Derby.

Renowned artist and musician Bill Drummond was invited to create a unique performance piece to celebrate QUAD and particularly its location in Derby, with members of the community. The 100 groups were recruited to take part in the project, which involved singing one note together for five minutes, then having a group photograph and video portrait taken.

These 100 separate sound recordings were mixed together to create one huge piece of choral music, and everyone who took part in the project was invited to the performance event on the Market Place in August 2008, to hear the one and only playback of this recording before it was deleted.

The 100 group photographs were on show in QUAD walls and digital screens for the venue’s opening 3 months. During September-October 2018 there was the chance to see these the 100 group photographs images once again in QUAD’s Extra Gallery spaces.