An inspiring end of year selection from the Highlight Arts team
31st December 2015As the year comes to a close and the internet becomes awash with lists of the wacky, wonderful and downright pointless, we thought we’d take a moment to make some recommendations of the people and projects that have been inspiring us in 2015.
Syrian Electronica (Think Massive Attack meets Abdel Halim Hafez)
Shubbak Festival in London this year, commissioned projects to support displaced Syrian artists. One of these projects was led by musician, producer, DJ and live visual artist Hello Psychaleppo (Samer Saem Eldahr). He created a new video, Shahba, by mixing original video footage from his hometown, sampling the music of Aleppian singer Nehad Najjar, and blending it with his own illustrations to pay homage to the city that formed him.
In Samer’s own words, his work is “deeply rooted in oriental music tradition but blended seamlessly with electronic music – it creates a journey away from boundaries of style”.
(Recommended by Dan Gorman)
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A Fine Year for the Written Word
Poetry
Mary Ruefle’s Trances of the Blast contains one of my all time favourite poems, ‘Goodnight Irene’. It begins,
‘I think the tree is very much turned on
I can feel its sticky sap rising in my eyes’.
Now, if that doesn’t make you want to read a poem, I honestly don’t know what will.
Novel
Michel Faber’s Book of Strange New Things, the winner of the Saltire Society Book of the Year, is an occasionally heart-breaking examination of humanity, a brave sci-fi infused novel that gives us hope while grimly acknowledging the limitations of the flesh.
Comic
Pretty Deadly by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Spanish artist Emma Ríos was a new discovery this year. A kind of gothic western mixed with the magical realism of Sandman with the brutality of Preacher. The artwork alone is stunning.
(Recommended by Ryan Van Winkle, whom we heartily congratulate for winning the Saltire Poetry Book of the Year 2015 with his collection, The Good Dark)
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Syrian Film Production on Mobile Phones
Clips via mobile cameras had an important role in the Arab world protest movements. Thousands of Syrian activists and journalists have and continue to film video clips that spread outside the country and challenge dictatorships through sound and image. Mobile camera has become a dominating media tool in the struggle for peace and freedom of expression.
The Syrian Mobile Phone Film Festival 2015 has given creatives based in Syria and on its borders a ‘home’ through the lens. The festival promotes a free and different cinematic vision, a vision that rests on the idea that the super-high accuracy image is not necessarily the clearest.
You can watch films from the 2014 festival here.
(Recommended by Yasmin Fedda)
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Art meets Activism: A Soundtrack of Bird Tweets and Bass
‘A Guide to the Birdsong of South America’, is a crowd-funded album of music inspired by birdsong, aimed at raising awareness about the plight of some of the most critically endangered birds in South America. All the money raised since the album’s release in March supports the work of the Fundación Jocotoco in Ecuador and its work in the Tapichalaca reserve, which is home to over half of the critically endangered species of bird, the Jocotoco Antpitta.
Some of the continent’s most talented producers used the recorded song of an endangered species from their home country, each creating an original track. The unique idea came from environmental activist, music producer and passionate bird-enthusiast Robin Perkins, who currently works for Greenpeace Mexico.
You too can buy the album and support the project.
(Recommended by Duncan Ballantyne)
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Gaming and Acrobatics in the Arctic
A new computer game called Never Alone has been developed by Cook Inlet Tribal Council, a non-profit community support organisation for Alaskan natives and their families. Increasing numbers of Alaskan Natives are moving out of traditional communities and into urban areas with their languages and life-ways disappearing. The Council created the game as a means of teaching Natives how to become more financially self-sufficient, as well as providing a new (and fun!) means for transferring cultural knowledge from one generation to the next. The package also features documentary footage of elders and communities explaining customs and sharing their knowledge and language.
Never Alone – Game Trailer from Never Alone on Vimeo.
Elsewhere in the Arctic: Community-based circus and multimedia company Artcirq are based in Igloolik, Nunavut, in northern Canada. Not unlike many other northern outposts, Igloolik has suffered from high suicide rates – particularly among its youth. Artcirq have worked tirelessly to run performance and filmmaking workshops to provide children and young people a creative means of expression.
Check out their productions on the Artcirq website! And watch out for their films and participation during Highlight Arctic.
Artcirq filmmaking workshop – Photo by Artcirq
(Recommended by Yasmin Al-Hadithi)
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Musical Instruments & Books for Refugees
Music against Borders believe that creativity and culture empower people disenfranchised by war and poverty particularly those who find themselves embroiled in the EU immigration system.
With many musicians from Syria, Eritrea, Pakistan and beyond ‘on the move’ in Europe coming up against unprecedented challenges, Music Against Borders are requesting to anyone with unwanted musical instruments to donate them. Whether it be a harmonica, guitar or a flute, Music Against Borders will send the instruments to Calais and further afield giving the many refugees a chance to express themselves through music.
You can contact them directly for a postal address: musicagainstborders@yahoo.com
Join their Facebook page for the latest news: https://www.facebook.com/musicagainstborders/
Jungle Books Library is another such initiative recently set up in the heart of the camp nicknamed ‘The Jungle’ in Calais – providing refugees with books, and a place to sit and read and discuss… In the words of the organisers:
“…it’s been fascinating to see what people are asking for — short stories and poetry, for example — but we need Pashto-French dictionaries, Pashto-English dictionaries, Eritrean dictionaries, books in native languages.”
You can send books to: Big Green Bookshop // Unit 1, Brampton park Road, // Wood Green // London // N22 6BG
Contact the Shop: +44 (0)20 8881 6767
(Recommended by Rasha Shaheen)
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And finally…
Whilst not from this year, we all heartily recommend This Room is Waiting, a book of poems from our series of Arabic, Kurdish and English translation workshops in 2013. It features work by John Glenday, Jen Hadfield, William Letford, Krystelle Bamford from the UK and Zaher Mousa, Ghareeb Iskander, Sabreen Khadhim and Awezan Nouri from Iraq. It is edited by Lauren Pyott and Ryan Van Winkle.
You can acquire a copy from Freight Books: This Room is Waiting
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Blog By…
…Highlight Arts!
This list was compiled by the Highlight Arts team and edited by Duncan Ballantyne.
Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!
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