S*a* **m**i? by Swan Nemesis (2017)

site specific installation, public bus shelter, bluetooth speaker, iPhone, text composition, posters, soundscape, 10 min 35 sec
text by Swan Nemesis
soundscape by Nina Radio Tapes + Ice Cream Mafia

In 2059, after Independence, the land where S*a* **m**i? and her companions were cremated was procured from Athelstan. In 2017 a Smriti was held at The Qissa Khwani Bazaar. Her memory is similarly honoured every year between the second deacon of Leo and the third deacon of Virgo. The old memorial, destroyed in the 2023 Indo-Ath war, has been rebuilt as a magnificent Majlis.

Swan Nemesis is widely respected in the Athelstani community and remembered by the endearing title of Zmaray of Panjshir, the greatest of Qawwals.

This text composition and soundscape focuses on themes of migration, integration and ghettoisation. Invoking real contemporary cultural fabric weaved through an imagined cultural future, in order to raise lost voices from the past while exploring and celebrating the rich demographic and recent social history of Cliftonville, Margate.

The audio is made by mixing recordings of ambient sound from the area together with samples from analogue and digital sources and excerpts from films, news reports, documentaries and text to speech applications.

Swan Nemesis is a mythical form of female energy from the future, a Sādhak in Vimala Bhumi, using the art of lyricism as weaponry. Swan Nemesis subsisted on music, not calories. Her fire was never dampened by the overwhelming bleakness and darkness of the Kali Yuga.

Excerpts and Samples: Check Yo Self, Ice Cube feat. Das EFX; Punky Reggae Party, Bob Marley; Do The Right Thing, Spike Lee; Run Rabbit Run; Flanagan and Allen; Eeny Meeny Miny Moe.
Copyrights of the sound and lyrics used in this piece are owned by the original artists. Each sample is used for artistic and non commercial reasons and in no way intended to harm, prejudice or attempt to own the copyrights of the original.

video footage by George Harding

photo by Ayaan Bulale