DARGAH - DOOMED QAWALLI

If sufi poetry laments spiritual separation from the loved one, then lo-fi recordings and transmissions from the sub-continent echo these sentiments when heard in new worlds separated by space, time and language. The urdu language manifests itself in many shades, from the complex to the colloquial. The more florid and elaborate the language used in these recitations, the more abstract the content becomes in the sonic strata.

Like coded messages from beyond, songs, laments and sermons travel light and arrive shorn of content but bearing gifts of affect. Fragments, tones, clipped peaks and distorted timbres reassemble themselves like data packets traversing the Internet, creating openings to the other side.

Dargah, the site of the sufi shrine, also means portal or threshold.

STRATEGY

Relocating world music at the point of reception rather than origin.