Sharjah Biennial 2013

The Call - from the city into the Biennial from Universes in Universe on Vimeo.

Variations for 10 drummers and an electronic musician fortissimo (ff). Sharjah Biennial programme of sound compositions, conceived by Tarek Atoui.

Jumana Manna & Sille Storihle: The Goodness Regime. 2013 from Universes in Universe on Vimeo.

Magdi Mostafa - sound cells: FRIDAYS. 2010 from Universes in Universe on Vimeo.

Wael Shawky: Dictums 10:120. 2011–13 from Universes in Universe on Vimeo.

Barbatuques - Too far west is east (clip)

ruth ewan (damnatio memoriae)

Damnatio Memoriae

installation, slide projection, audio, archival material, 2010

DAMNATIO MEMORIAE (the damnation of memory), refers to a punishment issued by the Roman Senate following a person’s death in an attempt to remove the person in question from cultural memory. Items such as coins, statues, paintings and documents were thought to be destroyed, names erased and property seized. Shown at Arthur Boskamp-Stiftung in Hohenlockstedt, Germany, Damnatio Memoriae was made up of a series of interconnected installations, mapping relations between seemingly disparate historic events.

A crop of Russian-Siberian heritage tomatoes, named after American actor and singer Paul Robeson (1898—1976), made up the installation, Them that plants them is soon forgotten. As the tomatoes ripened they were incorporated into the café menu at the Arthur Boskamp Foundation. Included in the installation was archive material relating to Robeson’s political activism and surveillance by both US and UK governments.

A slideshow with narration, The Brank, functioned as a loop of connecting information and backdrop to the works, making links between a scold’s bridle,damnatio memoriae, a missing sculpture of Paul Robeson by artist Antonio Salemme, MK ULTRA, Paul Robeson’s activism, anarchism, Ralph Chaplin, black cats, the European witch-hunts and an obsolete law of England and Wales known as the Common Scold Act.

Other works in the exhibition included a collection of inner record sleeves from Paul Robeson albums, The New Idealism, a giant witch’s hat, a collection of overturned images of witches and Black Cat Cross my Path, I Think Every Day’s Gonna Be My Last, where a local black cat was befriended and fed by gallery staff.

website

Akram Zaatari, The Uneasy Subject / MUAC Mexico

The Uneasy Subject / MUAC Mexico from akram zaatari on Vimeo.

Four Moors (Sardinia) by Melanie Manchot

‘Four Moors Sardinia’ is a video work made in response to an invitation to participate in an interventionist exhibition at the Ministry of Culture in Cagliari, Sardinia. While researching towards this commission, I became aware of the complicated and conflicted nature of a ‘Sardinian sense of identity’. While now autonomous after decades of struggle over its status, the island is far from united, its many dialects as well as the many variations in the design of its flag pointing to this complexity. For my commission, I invited employees from the ministry to sing a traditional Sardinian song to camera, acappella in an impromptu studio set up in one of the ministry’s office rooms. The film presents the four singers in profile in direct reference to the Sardinian flag, which shows four moors’ heads divided by a red cross. The four songs range from a nursery rhyme, a love song, a call to arms and a political song against the tyranny of Sardinia’s oppressors. The work was installed in the lobby of this modernist building as if greeting visitors into the exhibition.

Four Moors (Sardinia) from melanie manchot on Vimeo.

macdermott's war song (project)

Jingo Karaoke
Multimedia Performance
We don't want to fight but by Jingo if we do ...
We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too!

It was 1878 when in the United States Edison patented the phonograph that later was developed into gramophone and was the most common device for playing recorded sound until the 1980s.
In the same year across the ocean the music-hall singer G. H. Macdermott (aka "the Great Macdermott") introduced in London Pavilion his song By Jingo (means By God in Old English).
This is one of the very first examples of modern propaganda since Macdermott was commissioned to change the public opinion in Britain with a popular song in the middle of the political crisis between the British Empire and Russia, after the war with Turkey in the Balkans and Caucasus.
The crisis ended with a diplomatic triumph of Britain's Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and after the song a politician from the opposition Laborist Party invented the term jingoism that now is used for describing "extreme chauvinism or nationalism marked especially by a belligerent foreign policy".
It is amazing how political life changed forever since audiovisual mass media and propaganda charged pop culture were invented and eventually became an intrinsic part of the public life. In 2008 exactly one hundred and thirty years after, we can celebrate an anniversary of audiovisual industry and jingoism, with Russia becoming again the world's Evil, with the US presidential campaign in which a remote war that can be seen as a perfect example of jingoism was described as "God's Plan" and the Blue Ray (probably the last hard copy media) becoming world standard.
To remind for all these events media artist Petko Dourmana invited in his Chain Reaction Pavilion everybody who wanted to sing Macdermott's war song By Jingo with a karaoke set that uses a New Edison-Style Cup Phonograph.
In the plastic cups used as recording media visitors got free beer after singing.
By Jingo Karaoke performance was presented from September 11-14th, 2008 at Macedonia Square in Skopje, Macedonia as part of Upgrade International

Glasgow International Let's Get Lyrical Event

Glasgow International Let's Get Lyrical Event from GI Festival on Vimeo.

50/50: Hip Hop in Israel and Palestine (Alexandra Boulat)

On both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rappers are the voice of a new generation whose weapons are lyrics and music.

In Gaza, Mohamed, or DR (short for Dynamic Rapper), leads PR, the "Palestinian Rapperz". Despite Islamic laws, Israeli incursions and internal conflicts, PR persists in performing hip-hop concerts and producing new songs. "Our reality in Gaza is about suffering," says Mohamed. "Gaza is like a big prison, and we get our message across with rap music." Since last June, PR's Web site has had thousands of visitors from all over the world.

Jew Da lives in El'Ad, an Orthodox Jewish settlement near Tel Aviv. He recently moved from America to preach in Israel, putting his religion into his rap. Jew Da found rap before religion and he tries to follow a piece of advice given to him by his Rabbi: "Take what you did before, and flip it to holiness." Not easy. During a recent video shoot with other rappers, the former hard-partier acted shy about appearing with shimmying women dancers and tattooed colleagues.

The Film

Wenn Ich Ens Nit Mih Existiere (cultural identity)

Wenn ich ens nit mih existiere,
wenn ich die Auge zojedonn.
Wenn ich mich bovve präsentiere,
janz hoch am Himmelspöötzje stonn.
Dann soll d'r Petrus dat schon maache,
hä sök d'r schönste Platz mir us.
Hä weiß et jitt dann jet ze laache:
ich bin en Kölle am Ring zehus

When I am gone

When I close my eyes.

When I present myself at heaven's gates

St Peter will find for me the holiest place.

Don't laugh at me, it's true

Because I was from Cologne.

Research Project- يما مويل الهوا

يما مويل الهوا يما مويليا

Oh Mother the sad song …oh mother is my song

(It is a preface usually said to express how much pain the speaker has)

ضرب الخناجر ولا حكم النذل فيا

Hitting by daggers but not being ruled by rascal

ومشيت تحت الشتا والشتا رواني

And I walked under the rain ,and the rain wets me

والصيف لما أتى ولع من نيراني

And when the summer had come , he was burned by my fires

بيضل عمري انفدى ندر للحرية

My life will stay ransom and vow for the freedom

يما مويل الهوا يما مويليا

Oh Mother the sad song …oh mother is my song

يا ليل صاح الندى يشهد على جراحي

Oh night.. the dew hollers and witness on my wounds

وانسل جيش العدا من كل النواحي

And the enemy army attacked from all directions

والليل شاف الردى عم يتعلم بيا

And the night was witness on what the death had done to me

يما مويل الهوا يما مويليا

Oh Mother the sad song …oh mother is my song

بارودة الجبل أعلى من العالي

The mountain rifle is best of the best

مفتح درب الأمل والأمل برجالي

Key of the hope path and the hope depends on the men

يا شعبنا يا بطل أفديك بعينيا

Oh our people oh heroes … my eyes are ransom for you

يما مويل الهوا يما مويليا

Oh Mother the sad song …oh mother is my song

(special thanks to the person who translated this for me)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmq-AO1306A&feature=related

There is a Happy Land

There is a happy land down in duke street jail,

Where all the prisoners stand hangin fae a nail,

Ham and eggs you never see,

Dirty water for your tea.

There you live and there you dee,

God save the Queen.

Then the corporation came wae a great new plan,

build multi-storey flats on the happy land,

Now there's rows a hooses there,

Mind you step gon up the stair,

Ghosts'll come and pull your hair,

God save the Queen.

'Did You Kiss the Foot that Kicked You?' Ruth Ewan w/ Artangel (over 100 buskers in London who played 'The Ballad of Accounting' for a week)

Did you kiss the foot that kicked you?
"Give me the making of the songs of the nation, and I care not who makes its laws".
Andrew Fletcher, 1703
"Music is doing something to everyone who hears it all the time".
Arnold Perris, Music as Propaganda, 1984


Ewan MacColl wrote Ballad of Accounting in 1964.The lyrics follow a simple structure, considered to be unique among his three hundred compositions. The song offers criticism as self-reflection, repeatedly posing provocative and direct questions:
Did you stand aside and let them choose while you took second best?
Did you let them skim the cream off and then give to you the rest?
Government records released in 2006 through The National Archive show that from 1932, security service MI5 held a file on MacColl. One report claims that he was ‘a communist with very extreme views’ who needed ‘special attention’. The file also states, as a cause for concern, that MacColl had ‘exceptional ability as a singer and musical organiser’.
Ruth Ewan's Did you kiss the foot that kicked you? involves the co-ordination of over one hundred buskers around London. Performing both under and above ground, the buskers incorporate Ballad of Accounting into their usual repertoire. Their individual acts share a collective purpose. The week-long series of performances slips quietly into the rush-hour routine, as the scattered recitals filter into the subconscious of those passing by.
Busking is about something other than just being an able musician or a street entertainer; it is a raw performance, an autonomous act.
Legislation has almost eradicated busking; by-laws and policing keep all but the hardiest musicians from the streets, while others pursue bureaucratic routes into designated areas. The recent introduction of music licensing has restrained the natural spontaneity of performances across a range of live venues.
The entirety of Did you kiss the foot that kicked you? cannot be experienced by any one person. We may or may not be aware of the song’s fleeting presence in the city: a bold brass section as we cross the Thames or a quiet voice accompanied by a guitar as we turn off the main street.

Rives on 4 am

Tuli Kupferberg: I Am an Artist for Arts Sake

R.I.P

Protest Songbook A project by Big Hope: Miklós Erhardt & Dominic Hislop | Radio Broadcast

CLICK HERE

My Father is a Certain Kind of Man, December 2010 (Israel)

My father is a certain kind of man.

A few years ago we were in Greece together. He sat on a bench with another man. And they understood each other.

Their Language was their cigarettes,

Their ears grown large with age,

Their noses red from good times and bad times,

What a life we’ve had

Their hands ingrained with dirt from long ago

My father’s a certain kind of man.

And I sometimes wish I was too

(accompanying music: Mrs McGrath: The Sergeant Said)

KIDAM

KIDAM is a film production company based in Paris.
It was founded in 2006 by producer Alexandre Perrier and director Jeremiah, and was originally focused on pop/rock musical films and experimental works

Our work includes music videos & live performances, but also feature & short films both for cinema and television, with a special focus on south America co-production.

We are also developping new narrative forms with documentaries and web projects such as the Take-away shows and the City Series.

TAKE AWAY SHOWS

The 'Take away shows' video podcasts (in French : Concerts à emporter) have been created in 2006 for La Blogotheque by Chryde, who wanted to shake things up and find another way to share music, and Vincent Moon, who wanted to film music differently. Since then, other directors across the world joined this project, among others Jeremiah for Kidam.
Every week, La Blogotheque invites an artist or a band to play in the streets, in a bar, a park, or even in a flat or in an elevator. What makes the beauty of it is all the little incidents, hesitations, and crazy stuff happening unexpectingly. Our goal is to try and capture the music just like it happens, without preparation, without tricks. Spontaneity is the keyword.

Camille

In 2005 she released the album Le Fil, which was produced in collaboration with English producer MaJiKer. This album incorporated an avant-garde concept — a string, or thread ("le fil"), which was a drone that persisted throughout the entire course of the album. All of the songs in this album are based on the exploration of the voice, with only a double bass or double bass and keyboard as accompanying instruments.

OFFICAL SITE

Camille w/ Barbatuques

Camille-God is Sound

new piece ‘God is Sound’ comprising chants from different religious traditions: Christian, Sufi, Buddhist, Jewish, Shinto, Hindu, and including Bach’s Infinite Canon

NB. benjamin britten

al quds fairuz

Al-quds - Jerusalem par Fairouz
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