‘GIVING VOICE’ IN SOMALILAND: A CONVERSATION ABOUT POETIC VOICE, AUTHORITY AND RESPONSBILITIY
In this episode of Artery: A Podcast on Art, Authorship and Anthropology, Christina Woolner talks with Hargeysa-based poet Xasan Daahir Ismaaciil ‘Weedhsame’ about issues of voice, authorship and responsibility in his work.
Hiddo Dhawr: Singing Love in(to) Somaliland
Opened in 2014, Hiddo Dhawr is Somaliland’s first and only live music venue to operate since the 1988 civil war, which decimated the capital Hargeysa, and displaced the artistic community. In this episode of Camthropod, social anthropology PhD candidate Christina Woolner visits Hiddo Dhawr – which specializes in the performance of acoustic music popular before the war – to explore what it means to sing, and particularly about love, in contemporary Hargeysa. Conversations with the venue’s founder Sahra Halgan, reflections from some young patrons, and an evening taking in the music reveal the many meanings of love songs, and offer insight into the social and political climate of life in a post-war, unrecognized state.
Decolonising Sound Archives?
Auralities Research Network Roundtable
Sound archives have been described by some scholars as a valuable source of knowledge that “represent the perspectives of the vanquished, the less powerful” (Seeger 2002), that “allow non-literate people to speak for themselves” (Seeger & Chaudhuri 2004), and that might serve to “re-trace” otherwise lost historical knowledge and traditions (Lancefield 1998). Yet how sound archives speak and are heard, for whom and to what effect is never straightforward, especially when their very existence is often bound up in disciplinary practices that cannot be separated from colonial power dynamics.
This roundtable considered the ethical, epistemological and political challenges and opportunities of working with sound archives. Reflecting on their own engagement with sound archives – as ethnomusicologists involved in efforts to repatriate archives to their source communities, and as sound curators and music producers whose work seeks to make archival material available to broader audiences – panellists considered if and why these archives matter, and what it might look (or sound) like to “decolonise” sound archives.
This event was part of the Auralities Research Network hosted by the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) at Cambridge.
Poetics of Place and Displacement
Auralities Research Network Poetry Reading & Discussion
This session explored the poetics of place and displacement through the poetry of Vahni Capildeo and Xasan Daahir Ismaacil ‘Weedhsame’. Vahni, a Trinidadian-British poet, and Weedhsame, a Somali poet based in Hargeysa, will read from their recent work, with a translation by Martin Orwin. The reading was followed by a discussion of the intersection of sound, listening, migration and place (including in translation), as well questions and conversation with the poets.
This event was part of the Auralities Research Network hosted by the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) at Cambridge.
https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/29385/
BBC Radio 4 Programme
Imagine a place where poets lead armies into battle and strike fear into politicians, where poems accompany birth and marriage, work and worship, where the greatest poets write lyrics to pop songs and are treated like celebrities.
For Somalis, in the Somali territories and beyond, this is a cultural reality – a world were the rhythms and images of poetry are built into everyday speech and learnt from birth, where poetry is simply the natural language.
Acclaimed British Somali poet Warsan Shire explores what it means to be part of a culture which puts poetry at its centre, a “nation of poets”, and asks where this thriving tradition is going next. As a new Somali generation comes of age in a diaspora spread across the world, how are traditions adapting to new contexts and how is technology helping poetry thrive in a hyper-connected community?
Sharing their insights, memories and poetry with Warsan are British Somali poets Momtaza Mehri and Samatar Elmi, academics Dr Christina Woolner and Dr Martin Orwin and famous Somali poet Xasan Daahir Ismaaciil known to his many fans and followers as ‘Weedhsame’.
By Nina Strolich, for NOEMA
Somaliland’s poets have toppled governments and ushered in peace. Nina Stolich reports from Hargeysa for Noema, in an article featuring commentary and poetry translations compiled by Christina Woolner.
Op-Ed for The Guardian
Civil unrest, violence, corrupt local officials – doing research abroad means facing risks. PhD students talk about the support they need.
This Editorial, which appeared in The Guardian, was co-authored by Corinna Howland and Christina Woolner.
Sweet as Broken Dates
Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa
This Grammy-nominated compilation by Ostinao Records features tracks mainly found on cassettes in the archives of the Hargeysa Cultural Centre.
Compiled & Curated by Vik Sohonie & Nicolas Sheikholeslami
Archive Digitization by Nicolas Sheikholeslami
Project Coordination by Ahmed Ismail Yusuf, Abdullahi A. Osman
Christina Woolner, & Janto Djassi
Restoration & Mastering by Michael Graves
Graphic Design by Pete White
Special Thanks to Jama Musse Jama, Red Sea Foundation, Hargeisa Cultural Center, & Andreas Wetter
Full Playlist Available Here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7BeA-6eQypb2XMPzs0eVCD7Jk_mZ9AhT&feature=shared
Buy the Album: https://ostinato-records.lnk.to/sweetasbrokendates
Buy the Album: https://ostinato-records.lnk.to/sweetasbrokendates