#africamade_n_played for Garland
Kevin Murray, editor of the online magazine Garland: The stories behind what we make, invited me to write a series of articles on handmade African instruments for the issue ‘Umswenko – Africa’ published in June 2020. Collectively titled #acricamade_n_played the articles explored some characteristic instruments and forms of music made across the continent of Africa, beginning with a story about Fulu Muziki the Kinshasa-based Congolese dance-noise-protest-music collective who recycle waste materials to create unique performance instruments and elaborate stage costumes. This was followed by articles on uhadi and umruhbe (bow harps), mbira and kalimba (thumb pianos), ogene (an Igbo ensemble form from Nigeria), balafon (xylophone), guembri (north African string instrument) and finally the huge variety of shaken instruments that play a vital part in the characteristic sounds and rhythms of African sonic culture.
You can find my writing for Garland here: