Gaza – When Beyond the Norm Becomes the Norm by Alia Rayyan and Alaa Barghouthi

Gaza – When Beyond the Norm Becomes the Norm

Podcast

Episode 10 of the TIMEZONES podcast series, co-initiated and co-produced by Norient and the Goethe-Institut. This episode features a group of artists from the Gaza Strip, a territory suffering from the Israeli blockade established in 2007. This podcast episode reflects the digital reality of being together as a people and thus sheds light on the enormous challenges of working as a Palestinian artist today.

This slightly different journey will take you to the Gaza Strip – a territory that is 41 kilometers long and between 6 and 12 kilometers wide. A city that is located on the Mediterranean Sea, a coastal city, a city everyone knows from the news. Gaza is not a place that is easy to explore, sealed since 2007 when Israel started the blockade that limits the free movement of two million Palestinians, faced with the ongoing question of proving its existence, of being seen, being heard – and not being forgotten. For Palestinians from other areas, it not possible to enter Gaza, which shapes the reality of not being able to talk in person, to meet, or to work together. An ongoing interruption of a people’s life.

This episode reflects the digital reality of being together as a people – and introduces us to a group of artists, writers, and musicians who came together for six months in a virtual course called «After the Turn». The course was established to conduct a reflective educational online program on contemporary art practice and theory, realized as a result-open digital knowledge platform and a virtual free space under the same name following the end of the course. Catching up with three artists from this group, we listen to their thoughts about work and life and gain a glimpse into their reality.

A podcast by Alia Rayyan and Alaa Barghouthi

Co-initiated and co-produced by Norient and the Goethe-Institut

Featuring: Rehaf Al Batniji, Salman Nawati, Mahmoud Al Shaer

Artistic Editor: Abhishek Matur

Project Management: Hannes Liechti
Video Trailer: Emma Nzioka
Jingle Voiceover: Nana Akosua Hanson
Jingle Mix: Daniel Jakob
Mastering: Rea Dubach, Centraldubs
Artwork: Šejma Fere
Photography: Rehaf Al Batniji

The episode contains samples from Rehaf Batniji, Mahmoud Al Shaer, Mahmoud Abu Warda, Majdal Nateel, Hassan Qaoud, and Khaeld Jarada, Geographies of a Place Divine, 2021, video installation, 2:22 min loop, After the Turn, Gaza.

→ Full transcript of episode 10

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Featured Artists

Salman Nawati lives in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. The artist also works as an administrator of the art program at the Qattan Foundation/Gaza Center. He previously worked as an art teacher at the College of Fine Arts / Al-Aqsa University and as an artistic director for several art festivals in Gaza. His art education includes drawing, sculpture, installation, design, photography, filmmaking, theatre, music, and art therapy. Salman has participated in both local and international group exhibitions as well as three solo exhibitions.

Rehaf Al Batniji is a self-taught photographer and visual artist based in Gaza City, Palestine, who has participated in several local and international exhibitions. Most recently, Rehaf was artist-in-residence at Felipa Manuela in Madrid (Dec 21–Feb 22, 2022) and digitally presented her work at Slidefest Palestine as part of the Gulf Photo Plus festival in Dubai (Feb 22, 2022). Her first solo exhibition took place in the backyard (Al Hakoora) of her house in Gaza City in 2020. Rehaf has previously collaborated with organizations such as Riwaq, UNESCO, and ICRC Palestine on a variety of projects.

Mahmoud Al Shaer, born in 1990, Gaza. Mahmoud has been volunteering and working as a writer, content creator, editor-in-chief and executive director for 28-Magazine in Gaza for over four years. He is also the cultural program coordinator at the Bait Al-Ghussein Archaeological Cultural Center. Mahmoud has been very active in the field of literature and poetry as well as in several coalitions and committees such as the Qurtoba Cultural Coalition, 28-Magazine, Khuta Book Publishing, and many others. He is also an active member of several national associations such as the General Union of Palestinian Writers.

Bonus Talk

Beyond Borders: Bringing Artists Together Despite the Odds
moderated by Rania Al Namara (Elhelo)

This bonus talk features a conversation with artist Kamal Aljafari and Alia Rayyan, one of the producers of the TIMEZONES Gaza episode, about their experiences working virtually with Gaza artists. They share their insights on what it feels like to not be in the same location and what it means to work in a place like Gaza. The episode taps into the meanings and interpretations of space and place for Palestinian artists while collaborating and coming together from different locations and spaces.

In an attempt to use the best available technologies to make it possible, the interview was conducted and recorded via Zoom. Just like the episode itself, the production of this bonus talk mirrors and amplifies the challenges and constraints Gazans encounter in communicating with the outside world. In addition, this bonus talk elaborates on issues of representation and inclusion in experimenting with virtual platforms as potential free art spaces.

Gaza – When Beyond the Norm Becomes the Norm by Alia Rayyan and Alaa Barghouthi

Rania Al Namara (Elhelo) is a Palestinian journalist, translator, lecturer, and humanitarian aid worker with a Master’s degree in journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Rania has held different media and communications positions in the West Bank and Gaza for the past 15 years and has worked for local news agencies like the Palestine TV English news channel. Her work on reporting humanitarian stories as well as surviving everyday adversities in Gaza has appeared on mondoweiss, global impact, peace cast, SBS, and a number of blogs.

Kamal Aljafari is an acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker and artist. His work has been shown worldwide at film festivals such as the Berlinale, Locarno, Viennale, and Rotterdam, and museums such as the MoMA and Tate Modern. He attended the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and now lives in Berlin, Germany.

Playlist

Explore a playlist of artists from Palestine and their current releases.

Curated by Maha El Nabawi

The TIMEZONES podcast series plunges into the world of artists and their practices, asking: what does living and working in culture and the arts involve in different countries, cities, and contexts today? The artists’ thoughts on their moods, their social, political, and intellectual realities and their philosophies (of life) have been worked up into experimental audio collages.

The podcasts run the gamut of formats and content, from straight journalism to experimental and documentary approaches, ethnography and fiction, sound art, and improvisation. The TIMEZONES series endeavours to create new artistic forms of storytelling, listening and exchange across the boundaries of geography, time zones, genres, and practices.

The TIMEZONES podcast series is co-initiated and co-produced by Norient and the Goethe-Institut.

This episode is supported by:

Biography

Alia Rayyan holds an MA degree in international politics with a focus on the Middle East, sociology, and art history (University of Hamburg, SOAS – University of London). She is an art critic, writer, educator, and curator and has worked for international cultural organizations and art magazines in Berlin, Beirut, New York, Amman, Jerusalem, and Ramallah. She currently acts as a content developer for Filmlab Palestine, which she co-founded with Hanna Atallah in 2014. During her time as director of the Al Hoash – The Palestinian Art Court art gallery (2013–2016), Alia initiated an urban intervention program to address the special circumstances of Palestinians in public spaces in Jerusalem. Her experiences inform her doctoral dissertation, «Decolonizing Socially Engaged Art Practice in Non-Western Context», which she is completing at Leuphana University, Germany. Follow her on LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Biography

Alaa Barghouthi is a producer, sound engineer, sound designer, keyboardist, vocalist, music producer, and foley artist based in Ramallah, Palestine. Alaa has collaborated with numerous big names in the local rap scene as well as underground legends such as The Synaptik, Marwan Mousa, Al Feri, Julmud, Samra sounds, and big murk. In addition, Alaa creates, samples, and composes music/sound to complete his own unique form of music. Follow her on LinkedIn.

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The TIMEZONES podcast series plunges into the world of artists and their practices, asking: what does living and working in culture and the arts involve in different countries, cities, and contexts today? Season 2 focuses on Beirut, Montréal, Dhaka, Mt Makiling, and Gaza.

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Published on March 31, 2022

Last updated on October 12, 2023

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Urban Legends

Podcast

by Raphael Kariuki,

bethuel muthee

Not only were Kalamashaka the first break-out Swahili rap act in Kenya, they also launched a movement of conscious, Afrocentric rap inspired by the likes of Public Enemy, back in the 1990s in Nairobi’s Eastlands. In this podcast, original member Kamaa aka Githingithia speaks to the writer bethuel muthee about the Nairobi that inspired his music.

A podcast produced by Raphael Kariuki (DJ Raph)
Interview and transcript by bethuel muthee

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Extended Transcript

by bethuel muthee

Johnny Vigeti is the one who introduced the rest of the crew on the intro to the 1997 banger, «Tafsiri Hii»: «Straight from the Mau Mau Camp in the red corner, Muliro the Oteraw. In the blue corner, Kamau Githingithia. I’m the referee, Mr. Vigeti, kutoka Kalamashaka». The song was a seismic event that shifted the cultural landscape. A few years later, Kamaa would remind us on «Mangirima»: «nilizaliwa ‘78 Kenya ikagongwa na earthquake/ si coincidence ku-nicknamiwa Githingia 98». There were two earthquakes with a magnitude larger than 4.0 on the Richter scale in 1978. The biggest, felt on the evening of April 5, had a magnitude of 4.7 with its epicenter in Kajiado. Kamaa’s wasn’t a lazy brag when he claimed to be an earthquake, he shook the ground on which he stood with his radical rhymes. I got to sit down with the elder in his home, a place he calls paradise, to understand who he is and how he became a voice for revolution.

Kihumo/Epicenter: Where the Ground Started Rumbling

Kamau Ngigi was born in 1978 in Lari, Kiambu. He was born into a family of nine siblings and life in Lari was good until their father lost his job. The family moved from their good home in Lari to a shack in Ngarariga. Kamaa was at first oblivious to the change, since all the children continued to play together. Soon, the relationship between his parents deteriorated and they separated, the children staying with their mother. Kamaa and his brother Kang’ethe (MC Kah) ran away from home and came in search of their father, whom they caught up with and later went with to Dandora. Kamaa, a mediator at an early age, was able to convince his mother to get back with his father. The rest of the family followed Kamaa and Kah to Dandora.

When the family moved to Dandora in 1988, the streets were all lit and every home had a garbage can that was cleared by the City Council. «Hizo siku watu walikuwa wanatoka Karen wanakuja Dando kukunywa, wanatoka Buru. Hakukuwa na hiyo stigma». Kamaa was a student at Dandora Primary, a class behind Abbas Kubaff, who was the best student in Dandora and even represented Kenya in a quiz competition in South Africa. Perpetually curious and inquisitive, Kamaa was not satisfied with easy answers and his father, an academic, encouraged him, but this did not go down well with others. «Watoi wangekuja waniambie Mungu yuko kwa rosary ndio maana inawaka kwa giza nawaambia ni uwongo, hawakunipenda.» The neighborhood children were asked to stop playing with him. Isolated and still curious, he found himself peeping into a gym where there was tae kwon do. The coach noticed his interest and asked him to join. This became a haven for Kamaa, who would leave school and immediately head to the gym. Long before his name appeared in the media as a third of Kenya’s most important hip hop group, he made his name in sports. By the time he joined St. Theresa High School he was a black belt and was coaching the school team in form two.

After attending a breakdance film with his father, Kamaa immediately sensed there was a whole other world out there. When KTN started airing «Yo! MTV Raps» hosted by Doctor Dre and Ed Lover, there were some songs with which Kamaa could relate. «After 93 ni kama gava iliamua kucheza ki-Machiavelli, kuinstill fear…Hiyo time makarao walijazwa mtaani kukaanza kukuwa na Zion Train». When he watched rap videos talking of the violence in Compton, he saw Dando. The riots in Watts after the murder of Rodney King brought memories of Saba Saba. Hip hop shattered the facade of perfect America created by (mainly white) pop culture. In the Afrocentric medallions of LL Cool J and Queen Latifah he saw the flag of the Kenya Land and Freedom Army.

For a lot of people, mtaani, rap was still foreign and they associated it with MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, «toeni hizo ma yoyo, ma bow wow! Eka reggae»! But here was Kamaa with his durags and corn rows, a cool guy, plus he has a black belt. There weren’t many places that played hip hop in the city but Kamaa would go to Jungle in City Park and listen to DJ Pinye and DJ Nijo. His first experience of reggae had left him shook. See, Club Brilliant along Murang’a Road was the base of King Lion Sound and though reggae is peace-praising music, reggae nights were scenes of unmatched violence. «Reggae ilikuwa ni mahali pa mang’aa… Si kuwa nimeona violence kama hiyo before». He stayed away and later started going for afternoon jam sessions at F2 where the music was a mix of everything.

Na Wasaani Wakakam Wakapatana: 3D Crew Till Infinity

Throughout his life, Kamaa has found solace in libraries. He would get away from school or home and find a place to be alone, or he went to a library. One day while at the Dandora Library he saw two other guys who were rapping. The two were Roba (Robert Matumbai) Oteraw and Johnny (Vitu Mbaya) Vigeti. They told the young Kamaa that they rapped, and he told them he was also a rapper. Alignment. Even now Kamaa says he has never connected with anyone as much as he did with those two, as different as they were as individuals. «Where do you rap»? They told him about F2 competitions and he joined them the next Sunday. Being older, the two asked him to stay in school as Roba was about to join Kenyatta University. Roba’s room in KU would be a camp where Kamaa would stay when he was sent away from school for lack of school fees.

«Ungebonga kilami mtaani ulikuwa unauliza kuhandwa». The choice to rap in Sheng – an urban slang mix of Kiswahili, English and more – was conscious. Their message was about shifting away from colonial thinking. Three homies from Dandora going up against more experienced rappers like K-South Flava (Jerry Doobiez, KC, «na boy flani kutoka States» aka Bamboo). What they had that other crews didn’t have was dope rhymes in Sheng. They won battle after battle. After battle. They battled K-South several times. They now got into the club free; they were known and the crowd had accepted this strange new rap from 3D Crew.

One morning while in Roba’s room they saw an ad for a star search in a newspaper that was lying around, labda ilikuwa ya kufunga nyama. It was recent. There was a number and a nearby phone booth that they could call from. Wakaenda. They called and were told to appear that afternoon at Carnivore. Getting to town wasn’t a problem, they were known, they could ride free, though they had to find their way to Carnivore where they had never been. They got through the auditions. Dobbiez won. Anyone remember «mara ya kwanza kunywa Malibu si niliharibu…»? It was the same night. Kalamashaka might not have won, but they caught the attention of Tedd Josiah and went on to write an important chapter in Kenyan urban music.

Ni Wakati: The Unending Revolution

Kamaa’s poetry has been about revolution, the need to expand our consciousness, unshackling minds from colonial mentality, respect, and love for all. Sitting with him I ask him about the legacy of Kalamashaka and the need to change the world. His response, after a contemplative pause, is that it is still the time (ni wakati) for revolution. Nothing has changed from the days when they released the incendiary album featuring songs such as «Moto». The music is out there for all who want to listen. It is always a good time to listen. Listen to the music, listen to the world around, listen for that sound within you that asks to make a better day. It’s getting dark as we wind up our conversation plus there are hippos in the area. Kamaa says there’s so much to be done. There is hope.

This article is part of the virtual exhibition «Norient City Sounds: Nairobi» curated and edited by Raphael Kariuki and Kamwangi Njue.

Biography

Raphael Kariuki, aka djrPH, is a Nairobian electronic musician, sound artist, and DJ. He is a resident DJ and curator at The Mist, Nairobi’s first venue dedicated to underground and experimental music. His latest EP, hope/currency, is a collaboration with the spoken-word artist Kins of Spade. Raph is a long-time collaborator with Norient. In 2022, he curated the online publication «Norient City Sounds: Nairobi» together with author and writer Kamwangi Njue. Follow him on Instagram, Mixcloud, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, or Facebook.

Biography

Bethuel Muthee is a Kenyan poet living and working in Nairobi.

Published on May 06, 2022

Last updated on August 25, 2022

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Norient City Sounds: Nairobi

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Ears on/of Makiling by meLê yamomo, Nono Pardalis

Ears on/of Makiling

Podcast

by meLê yamomo,

Nono Pardalis

Episode 9 of the TIMEZONES podcast series, co-initiated and co-produced by Norient and the Goethe-Institut. This episode explores the stories and sounds of Mount Makiling, located 80 kilometres South of the Philippine capital of Manila. Makiling is the sacred site of local legends, the setting for numerous classical works of literature, and a pilgrimage destination for many mystics. And it is the home of many artists and arts students.

The University of the Philippines Los Baños was established in 1909, covering one side of the mountain. In 1977, Imelda Marcos, the notorious dictator’s wife, built the National Arts Center and the Philippine High School for the Arts on its slopes.

For many Filipino artists, the mountain is the ground in which their artistic roots were planted – despite moving back to the urban metropolises, to other islands of the archipelago, or to other continents, the mountain is a wormhole through which many artists’ pasts and presents intertwine. Makiling is the constant drone and its winds and rains the ostinati that their present and future experiences of nature, the forest, art, theater, poetry, and music are tuned to.

A podcast by meLê yamomo and Nono Pardalis

Co-initiated and co-produced by Norient and the Goethe-Institut

Featuring: Datu Arellano, Donna Cher dela Cruz, Dennis Gupa, Karlene Moreno Hayworth, Reagan Romero Maiquez, Nono Pardalis, and meLê yamomo

Artistic Editor: Abhishek Matur
Project Management: Hannes Liechti
Video Trailer: Emma Nzioka
Jingle Voiceover: Nana Akosua Hanson
Jingle Mix: Daniel Jakob
Mastering: Adi Flück, Centraldubs
Artwork: Šejma Fere
Video Trailer: Emma Nzioka

→ Full transcript of episode 9

Listen on

→ Listen to further TIMEZONES episodes

Featured Artists

Datu Arellano is a visual artist, musician, designer, retired front-end web developer, educator, and has been an active member of the Anino Shadowplay Collective since 1997. As a practitioner, he straddles multiple contexts of visual and performing arts and works within the traditional forms of drawing, painting, and sculpture; the experimental aspects of sound design, music, and video; and the commercial contexts of graphic design. He lives and works in Quezon City and Manila.

Donna Cher dela Cruz received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 2002, majoring in Speech Communication, and her Bachelor of Laws from the Arellano University School of Law in 2008. In 2009, she became a managing partner of the law firm Dela Cruz & Cabahug Law Offices. In 2011, she joined the Supreme Court of the Philippines as a court attorney in the Office of the Chief Attorney. She is currently a court attorney in the Office of Associate Justice Jose Midas P. Marquez. Donna is a faculty member of the Manila Adventist College School of Law and Jurisprudence where she teaches legal writing and a graduate of the Philippine High School for the Arts, Mt Makiling, Los Baños, Laguna, where she spent four years as an art scholar majoring in music (piano). She is married to artist Datu Arellano; they have three sons.

Dennis Gupa is a theater director and assistant professor at the University of Winnipeg’s theater and film department. He is an SSHRC Vanier scholar and received his PhD in applied theater at the University of Victoria. His research interest is on the intersection of climate change, indigenous ecological knowledge, and applied theater. He obtained an MFA degree in theater (directing) from the University of British Columbia and an MA in Theater Arts at the University of the Philippines. His intercultural and multidisciplinary directing works have been exhibited in North America and Southeast Asia. He is included in The Cultural Centre of the Philippines’ Encyclopedia of Philippine Arts (Theatre Volume) for his contribution to the contemporary theatrical heritage of the Philippines.

Karlene Moreno Hayworth is a soprano singer who graduated from the Philippine High School for the Arts on a full scholarship and received a Bachelor’s degree in music from University of the Philippines with magna cum laude honors. She continued her postgraduate training at the Royal Northern College of Music and The Associated Studios in London. Awards include the second prize in the National Music Competition for Young Artists and the grand prize in the McDonald’s Makabata Awards Special Child Achievers Category. She is currently a member of the Philharmonia Chorus. Outside the classical music world, Karlene was a weekly student DJ/radio presenter for 97.1 WLSFM (GMA Network), a top-rated pop music station.

Reagan Romero Maiquez is a writer, researcher, and teacher with a background in creative writing, anthropology, psychology, Philippine theater and performance studies. He has taught writing and literary studies and produced theatrical works and interdisciplinary research at the University of the Philippines at Los Baños. His poetry volume Ilang Sandali Makalipas ang Huling Araw ng Mundo (A Few Moments After the Apocalypse) was published by University of the Philippines Press. He has worked in community theater with African, Karen, and Filipino migrants and refugees in Melbourne and is working on community development projects.

Bonus Talk

Makiling’s Silence: A Memory, a Source, a Force of Creative Lives and Ceaseless Meanderings
moderated and produced by Dayang Yraola

Dayang Yraola, a Manila-based teacher, curator, sound artist, and sound archivist, retrieves her long-lost memories of living in Mt. Makiling in Los Baños, Laguna, in the early 2000s. She engaged in a conversation with three alumni of the Philippine High School for the Arts, the school at the heart of Mt Makiling, namely meLê yamomo, a Europe-based scholar and artist; Donna Cher dela Cruz, a Manila-based lawyer; and Nono Pardalis, a Laguna-based writer. Sharing their individual memories helped the participants of this Bonus Talk locate the place of Mt Makiling in many past and present episodes of their lives and their practice.

Ears on/of Makiling by meLê yamomo, Nono Pardalis

Dayang Yraola is an associate professor and curator of the Fine Arts Gallery at the University of the Philippines. She is the founder and lead curator of the art project series Project Glocal and Composite Noises. You can visit her website here.

Playlist

Explore a playlist of artists featured in the TIMEZONES Mt Makiling podcast episode, their collaborators, and their peers in the Filipino community.

Curated by Datu Arellano

The TIMEZONES podcast series is co-initiated and co-produced by Norient and the Goethe-Institut.

Biography

meLê yamomo lived in Manila, Seoul, Bangkok, Warwick, and Munich and now makes his home in Amsterdam and Berlin researching, teaching, and creating performance/theater and sound/music. He is an assistant professor of theater, performance, and sound studies (University of Amsterdam), the author of «Sounding Modernities: Theatre and Music in Manila and the Asia Pacific, 1869–1946» (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), and the project leader and principal investigator of the projects «Sonic Entanglements» and «Decolonizing Southeast Asian Sound Archives» (DeCoSEAS). meLê is a resident artist at Theater Ballhaus Naunynstraße, where his creations «Echoing Europe», «sonus», and «Forces of Overtones» are on repertoire. meLê also curates the Decolonial Frequencies Festival and hosts the «Sonic Entanglements» podcast. In his work as an artist-scholar, meLê engages with the topics of sonic migrations, queer aesthetics, and post/de-colonial acoustemologies. Follow him on LinkedIn.

Biography

Nono Pardalis is a freelance writer. Most of his works are scripts for on-air and online children’s shows like Team Yey, TALA, and Hero City Kids Force. He has also worked as a producer for Nickelodeon and is a member of the Anino Shadowplay Collective. Nono majored in creative writing at the Philippine High School for the Arts. He composes songs, writes poems, and takes care of his three kids.

Published on February 24, 2022

Last updated on March 27, 2024

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