El Trabajo y La Paz
Jan 12, 2022, 08:21 AM
"I chose the Radio Sandino shortwave recording because it reminded me of the year I spent documenting a popular uprising in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2006, when a people’s movement occupied several radio stations and used them to organize and mobilize people all over the state. We listened to the occupied radio stations day and night, and the sound would often blend with the sounds of rural and urban Oaxaca…rain, birds, farm animals. It’s such a strange and comforting experience to listen to something urgent and human while, at the same time, hearing the undisturbed sounds of a natural environment.
I also did a lot of reading about the clandestine radio stations of Central American resistance movements in the 80s (Radio Sandino, Radio Venceremos), and learned that they often broadcast from very remote locations, literally hiding in the jungle, and the communities that tuned in to their broadcasts were also often in remote, rural locations. The composition I’ve put together is what I imagine it might have sounded like that night that Somoza left Nicaragua, as people all over the country tuned in from their communities, celebrated, listened to the rain, and wondered what would come next.
Finally, the sounds I’ve included in this mix are all sounds of communication - a hummingbird warning everyone away from it’s territory, chickens wondering if the human has brought food, frogs singing to each other through the night, a thrush harmonizing with itself…like the radio broadcast, they are all announcing something important.
All sounds recorded by me, Jill Freidberg. Accordion and water harp recorded through a LOM Label Geofon."
I also did a lot of reading about the clandestine radio stations of Central American resistance movements in the 80s (Radio Sandino, Radio Venceremos), and learned that they often broadcast from very remote locations, literally hiding in the jungle, and the communities that tuned in to their broadcasts were also often in remote, rural locations. The composition I’ve put together is what I imagine it might have sounded like that night that Somoza left Nicaragua, as people all over the country tuned in from their communities, celebrated, listened to the rain, and wondered what would come next.
Finally, the sounds I’ve included in this mix are all sounds of communication - a hummingbird warning everyone away from it’s territory, chickens wondering if the human has brought food, frogs singing to each other through the night, a thrush harmonizing with itself…like the radio broadcast, they are all announcing something important.
All sounds recorded by me, Jill Freidberg. Accordion and water harp recorded through a LOM Label Geofon."
Composition by Jill Freidberg.
Part of the Shortwave Transmissions project, documenting and reimagining the sounds of shortwave radio - find out more and see the whole project at https://citiesandmemory.com/shortwave