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The rest of the building is open so please do visit!\u003C/p>\u003Cp>\u003Cbr /> \u003C/p>","Got it",{"globalSet":146},{"id":147,"handle":148,"heading":12,"richText":149},"11","gdpr",{"html":150},"\u003Cp>We use cookies to give you the best experience. By clicking 'Accept' you consent to the use of all cookies. \u003Ca href=\"/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy\u003C/a>.\u003C/p>",{"categories":152},[153,158,162,166,170,174,178,182],{"id":154,"slug":155,"title":156,"groupHandle":157},"4488","exhibitions","Exhibition","events",{"id":159,"slug":160,"title":161,"groupHandle":157},"4490","talks","Talk",{"id":163,"slug":164,"title":165,"groupHandle":157},"15579","music","Music",{"id":167,"slug":168,"title":169,"groupHandle":157},"4489","performance","Performance",{"id":171,"slug":172,"title":173,"groupHandle":157},"4492","film","Film",{"id":175,"slug":176,"title":177,"groupHandle":157},"6390","library-in-residence","Library-in-Residence",{"id":179,"slug":180,"title":181,"groupHandle":157},"18154","special-projects","Special Project",{"id":183,"slug":184,"title":185,"groupHandle":157},"18170","workshops","Workshop",{"entries":187},[188],{"uri":189,"title":190,"typeHandle":191},"ibraaz-publishing/read/listening-back-sound-and-memory-in-syrias-cassette-era","Listening Back: Sound and Memory in Syria’s Cassette Era","longForm",{"entry":193},{"id":194,"uri":189,"title":190,"slug":195,"postDate":196,"typeHandle":191,"sectionHandle":197,"meta":198,"readCategories":201,"writeCategories":205,"missionCategories":206,"figure":207,"pdf":208,"authorInfo":209,"richTitle":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richDescription":214,"richExcerpt":12,"image":216,"externalLinks":224,"entrySections":225,"related":424},"25104","listening-back-sound-and-memory-in-syrias-cassette-era","2026-06-25T00:00:00+01:00","read",[199],{"title":190,"description":12,"image":200},[],[202],{"title":203,"slug":204},"Visual Thinking","visualthinking",[],[],[],[],[210],{"authorName":211,"authorBio":212},"Yamen Mekdad & Omar Malas",{"html":213},"\u003Cp style=\"margin-left:0px;\">\u003Cstrong>Yamen Mekdad\u003C/strong> is a Damascus/London-based Syrian artist, researcher, and community organizer whose work is rooted in radical collaboration. His practice explores the relationship between sound, geography, and the human condition, shaped by sustained engagement across Syria and its diasporas. Working across filmmaking, archiving, field recording, radio, and grassroots cultural organizing, Mekdad has co-founded initiatives including Dandana, Sawt of the Earth, Makkam, and Sadaa Sound Syndicate. He is the co-founder and Creative Director of Syrian Cassette Archives and Rock Paper Scissors, and the co-founder and audio curator of the Syrian Arts and Culture Festival. Most recently, his essay-film Shapeshifting premiered at Sheffield DocFest, reflecting on the fractured Syrian psyche in the two years preceding the regime's collapse through underground music scenes in Syria and across the Syrian diaspora in Europe.\u003C/p>\u003Cp style=\"margin-left:0px;\">\u003Cstrong>Omar Malas\u003C/strong> is a Syrian documentary filmmaker whose work is rooted in close, observational encounters with social and political life in Syria. His first documentary, \u003Ci>Sun of Freedom\u003C/i> (2012), follows revolutionaries in Homs nearly a year after the beginning of the Syrian uprising. In 2020, Malas returned to the streets to make \u003Ci>Damascus Breathes\u003C/i>, following young doctors who launched an independent humanitarian initiative to support people affected by COVID-19.\u003C/p>",{"html":215},"\u003Cp>A two-part visual essay exploring the sounds and stories of Syria’s cassette era and the resonances that this sonic archive has acquired today. \u003C/p>",[217],{"id":218,"path":219,"alt":12,"title":220,"width":221,"height":222,"mimeType":223},"25288","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/SCA-5.jpg","SCA 5",5616,3744,"image/jpeg",[],[226,230,328,331,421],{"typeHandle":227,"richTitle":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":228},"content",{"html":229},"\u003Cp>Syrian Cassette Archives (SCA) preserves, researches, and shares sounds and stories from Syria’s cassette era. The project takes shape across various mediums and formats: the online cassette archive, workshops, and specially produced audio, visual and written works. Each strand explores the shifting cultural histories, stories, and experiences that sound can carry.\u003C/p>",{"typeHandle":231,"title":12,"image":232,"image2":233,"fullWidth":140,"colour":234,"boxColour":140,"frames":235},"screenshots",[],[],"#000000",[236,245,256,265,275,283,294,303,314,325],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":12,"image":237,"image2":244},[238],{"id":239,"path":240,"alt":12,"title":241,"width":242,"height":243,"mimeType":223},"25114","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/Archive_Image_A-shell.jpg","Archive Image A shell",1978,1268,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":246,"image":248,"image2":255},{"html":247},"\u003Cp>During Syria’s cassette era (1970s–2010), the tape moved between friends and family, travelled in cars and buses, and blared from restaurants, cafes, and homes.\u003C/p>",[249],{"id":250,"path":251,"alt":12,"title":252,"width":253,"height":254,"mimeType":223},"25113","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/Archive_Image_A-J-Card.jpg","Archive Image A J Card",1672,1604,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":12,"image":257,"image2":264},[258],{"id":259,"path":260,"alt":12,"title":261,"width":262,"height":263,"mimeType":223},"25119","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/Archive_Image_B-option-1.jpg","Archive Image B option 1",1060,1606,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":266,"image":268,"image2":274},{"html":267},"\u003Cp>Much of this music existed outside official cultural spaces — wedding songs, religious recitations, regional folk traditions — reflecting the many communities, regions, and identities that make up Syria and the surrounding region.\u003C/p>",[269],{"id":270,"path":271,"alt":12,"title":272,"width":273,"height":243,"mimeType":223},"25117","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/Archive_Image_B-option-2a.jpg","Archive Image B option 2a",1994,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":12,"image":276,"image2":282},[277],{"id":278,"path":279,"alt":12,"title":280,"width":281,"height":263,"mimeType":16},"25124","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/Archive_Image_c-option-4.png","Archive Image c option 4",1002,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":284,"image":286,"image2":293},{"html":285},"\u003Cp>Many cassettes were ephemeral, produced in small quantities and circulated through shops, street kiosks, and informal networks. They weren’t intended for preservation, yet decades later, the sounds remain.\u003C/p>",[287],{"id":288,"path":289,"alt":12,"title":290,"width":291,"height":292,"mimeType":223},"25122","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/Archive_Image_c-option-1.jpg","Archive Image c option 1",1962,1270,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":12,"image":295,"image2":302},[296],{"id":297,"path":298,"alt":12,"title":299,"width":300,"height":301,"mimeType":16},"25125","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/Archive_Image_D-10.png","Archive Image D 10",1396,1450,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":304,"image":306,"image2":313},{"html":305},"\u003Cp>The cassette survived through use. It was duplicated, traded, replayed, and often recorded over. Its survival depended less on institutions than on ordinary habits of listening, sharing, and keeping.\u003C/p>",[307],{"id":308,"path":309,"alt":12,"title":310,"width":311,"height":312,"mimeType":223},"25128","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/Archive_Image_D-8.jpg","Archive Image D 8",2749,1788,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":315,"image":317,"image2":324},{"html":316},"\u003Cp>The melodies on these tapes often predate the recordings themselves. Songs and rhythms were passed down across generations before being captured on cassette at a specific moment.\u003C/p>",[318],{"id":319,"path":320,"alt":12,"title":321,"width":322,"height":323,"mimeType":223},"25115","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/SCA_Cassette-Kiosk-Damascus-1997-photo-by-Mark-Gergis.jpg","SCA Cassette Kiosk Damascus 1997 photo by Mark Gergis",1923,1443,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":12,"image":326,"image2":327},[],[],{"typeHandle":227,"richTitle":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":329},{"html":330},"\u003Cp>Since the fall of the regime, SCA has presented its work inside Syria through public events and workshops. After the 2011 revolution and all that followed, sound took on new meanings and resonances. During these years, people were forced into difficult and unprecedented positions, and their lives were radically transformed. While some left for Europe or neighbouring countries, others fought or stayed and lived through it all. These different experiences altered how people related to the memory of Syria’s pasts and its sonic worlds. Attempting to explore this relationship, led to the development of a week-long musical and archival programme held in April 2026 at the National Museum of Idlib, in partnership with the digital platform Creative Memory of the Syrian Revolution.\u003C/p>",{"typeHandle":231,"title":12,"image":332,"image2":333,"fullWidth":140,"colour":234,"boxColour":140,"frames":334},[],[],[335,341,352,363,374,385,394,403,412],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":336,"image":338,"image2":340},{"html":337},"\u003Cp>Idlib, 2026. The city carries visible marks of the war years alongside signs of rebuilding.\u003C/p>",[339],{"id":218,"path":219,"alt":12,"title":220,"width":221,"height":222,"mimeType":223},[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":342,"image":344,"image2":351},{"html":343},"\u003Cp>Al-Mihrab Square, Idlib. The National Museum of Idlib, where SCA presented the week-long programme.\u003C/p>",[345],{"id":346,"path":347,"alt":12,"title":348,"width":349,"height":350,"mimeType":223},"25287","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/SCA-3.jpg","SCA 3",3783,2522,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":353,"image":355,"image2":362},{"html":354},"\u003Cp>Opening of Detainees and Disappeared: Art Documents, Archives Speak, organised by Creative Memory of the Syrian Revolution in partnership with Syrian Cassette Archives. National Museum of Idlib, April 2026.\u003C/p>",[356],{"id":357,"path":358,"alt":12,"title":359,"width":360,"height":361,"mimeType":223},"25289","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/SCA-11.jpg","SCA 11",4800,3200,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":364,"image":366,"image2":373},{"html":365},"\u003Cp>A family listening to traditional music from the region at the opening. For many visitors, the recordings on the listening stations were familiar — music they had grown up with.\u003C/p>",[367],{"id":368,"path":369,"alt":12,"title":370,"width":371,"height":372,"mimeType":223},"25290","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/SCA-12.jpg","SCA 12",5061,3374,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":375,"image":377,"image2":384},{"html":376},"\u003Cp>Visitors engaging with SCA listening stations featuring cassette recordings from Idlib — music documented as a lived and communal practice.\u003C/p>",[378],{"id":379,"path":380,"alt":12,"title":381,"width":382,"height":383,"mimeType":223},"25292","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/SCA-22.jpg","SCA 22",3767,2512,[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":386,"image":388,"image2":393},{"html":387},"\u003Cp>Yamen Mekdad, co-founder of Syrian Cassette Archives, in conversation with visitors about the project and its collection.\u003C/p>",[389],{"id":390,"path":391,"alt":12,"title":392,"width":221,"height":222,"mimeType":223},"25293","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/SCA-24.jpg","SCA 24",[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":395,"image":397,"image2":402},{"html":396},"\u003Cp>A panel discussion on how the revolution and war reshaped Idlib’s musical life, with artist Mahmoud Al-Qaddour and researcher Yasser Al-Soufi, moderated by Yamen Mekdad.\u003C/p>",[398],{"id":399,"path":400,"alt":12,"title":401,"width":221,"height":222,"mimeType":223},"25294","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/SCA-29.jpg","SCA 29",[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":404,"image":406,"image2":411},{"html":405},"\u003Cp>Part of the audience during the listening session and discussion on traditional music in Idlib.\u003C/p>",[407],{"id":408,"path":409,"alt":12,"title":410,"width":221,"height":222,"mimeType":16},"25465","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/SCA-30_resize.png","SCA 30 resize",[],{"title":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":413,"image":415,"image2":420},{"html":414},"\u003Cp>A soldier from the new Syrian army during his visit to the exhibition.\u003C/p>",[416],{"id":417,"path":418,"alt":12,"title":419,"width":221,"height":222,"mimeType":16},"25466","Syrian-Cassette-Visual-Thinking/SCA-35_resize.png","SCA 35 resize",[],{"typeHandle":227,"richTitle":12,"richSubtitle":12,"richText":422},{"html":423},"\u003Cp>For many people encountering these recordings now, they are not documents of a receding past but a way of reconnecting with a cultural fabric and living archive, offering materials from which to think again about what Syrian sound might carry forward.\u003C/p>\u003Cp style=\"margin-left:0px;\">\u003Cu>Credits\u003C/u>\u003C/p>\u003Cp style=\"margin-left:0px;\">Text: Yamen Mekdad \u003C/p>\u003Cp style=\"margin-left:0px;\">Photography: Omar Malas  \u003C/p>\u003Cp style=\"margin-left:0px;\">Editor: Mark Gergis \u003C/p>",[425],{"title":426,"relatedEntries":427},"Related",[428,449,470],{"typeHandle":429,"events":430},"calendarEvents",[431],{"title":432,"slug":433,"startDate":434,"endDate":435,"datesText":436,"image":438,"categories":445,"heading":448},"Sound and Memory in Syria’s Cassette Era","sound-and-memory-in-syrias-cassette-era","2026-06-27T11:00:00+00:00","2026-06-27T12:00:00+00:00",{"html":437},"\u003Cp>Saturday 27 June, 1–3pm and 7–8pm\u003C/p>",[439],{"id":440,"path":441,"alt":12,"title":442,"width":443,"height":444,"mimeType":223},"24827","the-trembling-city-sound-and-spatial-justice/SCA_Cassette-Kiosk-Damascus-2006-photo-by-Mark-GergisJPG.JPG","SCA Cassette Kiosk Damascus 2006 photo by Mark Gergis JPG",2667,2000,[446,447],{"title":173,"slug":172},{"title":165,"slug":164},"Syrian Cassette Archives",{"typeHandle":450,"entries":451},"channelsEntries",[452],{"title":453,"uri":454,"image":455,"categories":463,"authorInfo":467},"I Remember Syria","ibraaz-publishing/listen/i-remember-syria",[456],{"id":457,"path":458,"alt":12,"title":459,"width":460,"height":461,"mimeType":462},"25798","Syrian-Cassette-Archives-Soundscape/Damascus-street-scene-2.tif","Damascus street scene 2",1468,1032,"image/tiff",[464],{"title":465,"slug":466},"Soundscape","soundscape",[468],{"authorName":469},"Mark Gergis",{"typeHandle":450,"entries":471},[472],{"title":473,"uri":474,"image":475,"readCategories":482,"writeCategories":486,"missionCategories":487,"authorInfo":488},"Living in the Past","ibraaz-publishing/read/living-in-the-past",[476],{"id":477,"path":478,"alt":12,"title":479,"width":480,"height":481,"mimeType":223},"24681","Samar-Yazbek-Living-in-the-Past/WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-19-at-12.52.14-6.jpeg","Whats App Image 2026 05 19 at 12 52 14 6",1200,1600,[483],{"title":484,"slug":485},"Essay","essay",[],[],[489],{"authorName":490},"Samar Yazbek"]