Sleeping cheetah discovered in the British Library!

9 August 2005 :: Posted by Victoria Main

Sounds of Africa - a new sound exhibition at the British Library 10 September - 6 November 2005

Sounds of Africa, a display opening at the British Library on 10 September 2005, explores the vast array of African culture through music, literature and the environment. From one of the world's earliest audio recordings made in 1904 to the sound of a cheetah sleeping in a tree, Janet Topp - Fargion, Curator of World and Traditional Music, has used over 100 sounds from the British Library's Sound Archive to create a multi-layered experience challenging traditional perceptions of Africa by using music, literature, rural and city soundscapes to reflect the rich diversity of this incredible continent. Sounds of Africa forms part of the British library's contribution to 'Africa 05', the biggest celebration of African culture ever organised in Britain.

As visitors enter the Front Hall of the Library they can discover more about the work of ethnographers, publishers, and broadcasters. Visitors can listen to one of the world's earliest audio recordings, made by Sir Harry Johnston, of a 1904 interview with the President of Liberia, where amongst other things he talks about the presence of cannibal tribes. A more recent example is from a 1984 recording of Radio Freedom, the underground radio station for the African National Congress in exile that was broadcast from a remote facility in the outskirts of Lusaka.

Visitors are encouraged to go off the beaten track and explore the geography of the Library to discover the continent of Africa through sound. Visitors can stop at a "world music tree" and listen to a range of global music as well as audio clips relating to politics, colonialism and local issues such as a recording of Maulidi performances in Zanzibar, given at a wedding gathering, celebrating the birth of the Islamic prophet Mohammed.

Drawing on the rich tradition of African oral literature a "sound tree" on the second floor of the Library allows visitors to listen to examples of African Nobel Prize winners, literary personalities and political poetry reading. Mongane Wally Serote, exiled during much of the apartheid period, reads his poem 'When lights go out' and the Kenyan poet and playwright Micere Githae Mugo, inspired by rural women's singing, reads her poem 'Where are those songs?'.

A final area on the third floor of the Library will feature features soundscapes. Using recordings of animals and city scapes as well as human interaction with the natural world, visitors can listen to a cheetah sleeping in the shade of a Baobab tree in Zimbabawe and Muezzins using the acoustics of a highway underpass in Cairo to practice the power of voice projection, traditionally used from the minaret of a mosque to call people to prayer.

Janet Topp Fargion said: "I believe this is the first time that Africa has formed the focus of a British Library exhibition and it's only the second time we've mounted a sound display. The Sound Archive's collections of African music and wildlife recordings are some of the largest in the world and this exhibition shows it off in a very contemporary way. "

For further information and images, contact Victoria Main at the British Library Press Office: +44 (0)20 7412 7112 or Victoria.Main@bl.uk

Notes for Editors

Africa is the second largest continent in the world. Spanning more than 300 million square kilometres it contains areas of rainforest, savannah and desert. Its almost 800 million people can be described as approximately 3000 ethnic groups each with its own social identity. Speaking roughly 2000 distinct indigenous languages between them, just under a third of the world's total number of living languages are found in Africa.

The British Library Sound Archive - is one of the largest in the world. It holds over a million discs, 200,000 tapes, and many other sound and video recordings. The collections come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound from music, drama and literature, to oral history and wildlife sounds. They range from cylinders made in the late 19th century to the latest CD, DVD and minidisc recordings. The archive holds copies of commercial recordings issued in the United Kingdom, together with selected commercial recordings from overseas, radio broadcasts and many privately-made recordings. It also offers public access to a wide range of specialist publications, books, magazines and journals covering every aspect of recorded sound.

Think Africa : African Visions 2005 - A Festival of African Literature, Culture and Politics
Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 October 2005
In the Conference Centre
As the climax of the Africa05 literature season, this two day festival will explore some of the best New Writing in Africa today, and celebrate great writing from a number of Africa's best known authors. There will be sessions on current affairs, workshops with writers for children and teenagers, and workshops looking at the publishing situation regarding African, Caribbean and Black British writers and readers.

For programme and ticket information please contact + 44 (0)20 7412 7222