Culture And Memory

Community Rhythms

Community Rhythms will document, preserve and celebrate the rich spoken word and musical traditions of Bristol’s Somali and East African diaspora by creating and sharing a lasting archive of music and sound that explores themes of motherhood, family dynamics and migration. Community Rhythms is a community-led programme that will create safe, inclusive and joyful spaces for women and their families to share these histories and traditions and evolving cultural practices and strengthen bonds across the community and across generations. Rooted in the findings of a recent partnership participatory research initiative, Community Rhythms responds to community-identified concerns of cultural loss, familial and community isolation and challenges of culturally sensitive participation. Community Rhythms' activities includes creative workshops (eg Women's Circles), capacity building (eg, community facilitation training) and the creation of a new Narrative Soundscape to share and archive the sounds and music that tell the story of East African families in Bristol.