Within These Walls of Karsheef

I am gradually organising the blog into pages and deciding what information goes where.  I have decided that the statement I used for my 2011 MA project (MA LSAD), will be placed both here on the home page (to give an overview to what I'm about) but will also feature in the description for the Siwa page of the blog. I don't intend to go in for repetition on a general scale, but in this instance I feel it is useful.

I find I cannot upload the video as its on a hard drive in Galway. I will deal with this over the weekend. In the meantime I will endeavour to provide links to my soundcloud page. I am not, at present, a big soundcloud user, but when I was in Egypt during April/ May 2011, I found it a useful storage space for my recorded files. As sound recordings seem to be increasingly used in my practice (and as I also write/read aloud quite a bit of poetry), I could imagine that Soundcloud is a resource that could prove very valuable in the future. Please go to Siwa page for further information.





Within These Walls of Karsheef.

(* karsheef is the traditional building material of Siwa oasis comprising of salt brick and clay from bed of salt lakes.)

Within These Walls of Karsheef is regarded as a cross-section of an ongoing community engagement based in the remote Berber oasis of Siwa, Western desert of Egypt. The work sets out to explore notions of Siwan cultural identity and the extent this is compromised due to the sweeping tide of globalization.

The work is composed by the lifting of soundtracks recorded by the artist during previous engagements with the women potters of the oasis on the theme of touristic-led development, and placing them 'within the karsheef walls' depicted through video, of Al Salam House; a semi-derelict traditional building of salt brick and clay located in The Al Salam neighbourhood, of the oasis settlement. 

Contained within the walls and open yards of Al Salam House, the soundscape flows through the light, shadow and debris of previous occupancy, highlighting the juxtapositions and complexities of a changing way of life, demonstrating the emergence of space re-contextualized, whilst reiterating the necessity for longevity and continuity within the field of cultural practice. 

Plans are afoot (2012) to secure a karsheef building for the continuation of an interactive community practice located within Siwa oasis, yet extending into the Sahara Desert.