SOUND
Calais’ Jungle Sessions
Brings together some of the recordings from the migrant and refugee camp of Calais in 2015-16. Music was constantly present in the camp, whether playing from phones inside tents, made from make-shift instruments to celebrate festivities or self-composed to accompany people’s memories of their travels, and their hopes to reach the UK.
Eid in the Sudanese Camp Vol.1
Eid in the Sudanese Camp Vol. 2
A song of travel and hope
Istanbul Sessions
A collection of recordings from Istanbul streets and cafes in 2016-17. Music is everywhere in Istanbul, and since the Syrian conflict started, Turkish and Syrian musicians often meet to play in the same spots. Istiklal street is one of these places of musical encounter.
An afternoon with Syrian musicians
On Istiklal street Vol.1
On Istiklal street Vol.2
A Santur on Istiklal
Lesbos
The island of Lesbos has experienced many historical migrations. When we visited in October 2015 there were thousands of people from Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, and further afield. We met many individuals with many stories, and music was one of the ways that people felt most comfortable in telling their experiences and expressing their identities
Pakistani songs in Lesvos
Kurdish song from Kobane
Georgian Polyphony Singing
These are songs which not only bring together a group of friends after a day’s work, but also represent a way to maintain the rich musical traditions which have been preserved through the generations, in defiance of Soviet rule, and which now underlie a strong national identity. This is Georgian polyphonic singing.
Italian Sessions
These are recordings from the work of Brush&Bow in Italy, documenting migrant labour across the country, from the migrant-led tailor-shops making and selling African fabrics in Trento, to the fish markets of Sicily, run by Tunisian fishermen shouting prices shoulder to shoulder to Sicilian sailors, careless of the sea border that is being built to separate them.
Fish Markets in Mazara del Vallo
Interviewing migrant tailors in Trento
Lebanese Sessions
Records the audio documentation of some of Brush&Bow’s work in Lebanon, alongside women migrant workers fighting against an abusive, oppressive and often homicidal legislation (the Kafala system) by which foreign domestic workers are brought into the country with no rights and under the complete control of employment agencies.
The Alliance of Domestic Workers is an exceptional group of women activists, all domestic migrant workers themselves, who decided to come together to support, denounce and fight back the abuse received on the work place. Meetings often bring in creative elements of theater and song to be able to share traumatic experiences and find solidarity.
The initial speech given to open a the Alliance of Domestic Worker’s celebration in Beirut