Sea
Sound Dhowcast

Sea Sound is a multidisciplinary project and a combined effort between the fields of research, ethnomusicology and anthropology to document, catalog, preserve and promote the threatened oral traditional heritage of Mozambican fishing communities that now find themselves on the verge of disappearance due to the direct effects of climate change.

 

Over a year, a trained group of 6 young people from the community of the Island of Mozambique conducted research, interviews and group discussions on sea stories and shants, traditional techniques of building, sailing and fishing of men and women, memory of slavery and wars, understanding of nature and the climate changes. The result is an extensive archive database and 7 parts series podcast, entitled Dhowcast, that brilliantly blends sea chants and stories of the Island of Mozambique’s cultural heritage through a dive into the unique and melodic traditional maritime culture of the southern Indian Ocean Coastal region, and the history, science and knowledge carried within it. Delving into the daily routine of men and women whose lives are the extension of the sea and discover their fears and beliefs, their memories, sorrows and joys. Their challenges and how it all echoes with the sounds of the sea has all been collected over a period of a year by the 6 trained young people from the community.

 

By engaging closely with the coastal people of the Island, the young people gathered information about the Swahili maritime cultural sound heritage, and incorporated the fishing communities’s voices and stories into the production of the podcast series.

 

This project is truly inclusive and showcases a collaborative approach, not only by honoring the tradition of the Island of Mozambique, but also by strengthening the community’s sense of ownership and pride in its cultural expression. In the process, a 8 meter dhow was built in the community and we continue working closely with them. This project has been supported by the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.