Since 2013 Qisetna has been engaging Syrians across borders and collaborating with them to actively become the producers of their own narratives.
We achieve this by connecting with the global Syrian diaspora and enabling these individuals to remember and record their personal narratives through storytelling and other type of performances and community events. The stories, music and poetry of displaced Syrians help them to reconnect with their cultural identity, and these intangible artifacts are digitally preserved on the Qisetna website.
“To be kept alive, intangible cultural heritage must be relevant to its community, continuosly recreated and trasmitted from one generation to another”
These efforts are critival to remembering the rich and vibrant Syrian culture that has been disrupted and dispersed due to conflict. They are an important facet in helping displaced Syrian transition to the culture and language of the countries they are resettling across the globe.
Tasjeelat refers to the audio recordings gathered by a team of dedicated volunteers to preserve the artistic and creative heritage of Syrians in the UK. Our unique methodology relies on equipping the young generation to record the unique songs, poems, and cultural rituals that otherwise will fade away.
Tasjeelat is supported by The Audience Agency’s Digitally Democratising Archives project thanks to funding from DCMS and the National Lottery, as part of The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s, Digital Skills for Heritage initiative.
Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage is about the transferring of knowledge, craft and meaning. It must always be developed and applied with the consent and involvement of the community itself. In this process the participants engage with what knowledge, skills and testimonies that are generally carried in the memories of the elder generation and would be lost if not recorded and shared.
Tasjeelat consists of a series of episodes featuring artists, musicians and writers from Syrian heritage in all its diversity and richness.
Produced by Khaled Alesmael
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Please attribute as: “Tasjeelat (2022) by Qisetna supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, licensed under CC BY 40
