Ubuntu: street soundscapes in Cuba
The next stop on our tour of the Well-Being Cities project is Havana, Cuba, where a field recording of a street soundscape by Jack Hyde starts with crowds going about their daily business. Halfway through, some wonderful Cuban music plays from a nearby bar as we walk past, creating a wonderfully lively atmosphere.
City version:
This field recording was reimagined by Wahinya Mwirikia with D-Empress Evoke. Wahinya explains:
“The original sound is a recording of a street in Cuba and in the background one can hear a playful child and their guardian, a local band and indistinct voices. Even though it sounds noisy as streets usually are. It is a cacophony of beauty envisaged in humanity.
“The sounds took me to the hugging Andes mountains that inspired the guitar melody, the bass acts as a rhythmic bridge and the percussions are a road that transports the vocals & poetry delivered freestyle by the amazing D-EmpressEvoke taking us into the transcendental world of insight that; Ubuntu-Without You I Do Not Exist.
“The poetry is inspired by the Evoking Belonging Social Sculpture practice created by D-EmpressEvoke AKA Dr Dianne Regisford. The vocals describe a journey in the liminal space of the UbuntuSphere… a concept designed by D-EmpressEvoke and offered as a space for courageous conversations about race, equity, diversity and inclusion. She offers the poem as a provocation and invitation to all willing to commune, connect and co-create for just, equitable and humane city-making. Thus engaging the topics of well-being and sustainability through the liberty call of Ubuntu.”
Memory version:
