Historian Memory Biwa combines memory, the sonic, and archival theory. Her piece, which is conceived as an ‘aural procession’, of a lullaby sung at dawn, battle cries, chants, ululations, bow-playing, and landscapes trace narratives of colonial violence and re-enactments of resistance in Namibia. These traces are drawn from aural, sartorial and performative practices which inform notions of subjectivity and the re-centering of alternative epistemologies and imaginaries.
The piece was co-produced with Robert ‘Chi’ Machiri.
The sound recordings are of:
Elder Jarimbovandu Alex Kaputu (Ceremonial Chief Priest of the Holy Fire, and Lieutenant General of the Red Flag), Ovaherero and Nama delegation (including Genocide Committees), Human remains viewing/ceremony at Charite University Hospital, Berlin, September 2011, recording by Larissa Foerster
Elders Lena Venter, and Fritz //Hamaseb, Okahandja, central Namibia,1954, Ernst and Ruth Dammann Sound Collection, Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Basel.
Swimming pool waterfall at Spa, Klein-Windhoek (a place of early settlement near hot springs), Windhoek, August 2020, recording by Memory Biwa