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The Drowning Valley

by Phonodelica

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Drowning Valley, Offerings | قربان, Seamstress, Preludes for Social Distancing, and HIDDEN ASSEMBLAGES. , and , .

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1.
2.
3.
Extinction 04:10
4.
5.
Reservoir 04:52

about

The Drowning Valley is Part 1 of "Into the Ether and Out of Our Anguish," a large-scale collaborative work comprising solo piano improvisations, string quartet, field recordings and testimonials collected by my colleagues Shareef Sarhan and Rana Batrawi, who both live and work in Gaza, from survivors of the latest massacre and also focusing on the nature and landscape of the Gaza valley. I was recently awarded the 2021 Palestinian Young Artist of the Year Award for "Into the Ether and Out of Our Anguish" by the AM Qattan Foundation in conjunction with the Mosaic Rooms in London. The theme for this year's award is "Divinations: The Art of Remembering The Future,” curated by novelist and writer Adania Shibli. It focuses on ways artists, academics, curators, historians and critics can work towards imagining a liberated Palestine, and is largely focused on process rather than outcome. Inspired by the five elements: air, water, earth, fire and ether, the sonic space in a future where Palestine exists outside of the boundaries and politics of nation statehood and of earthly, material alliances. Ether is the space where we come together amidst the constantly changing environmental forces to adapt and change with them, a place where residents value the natural world, rather than being neglectful and incredibly wasteful of its natural resources.

Imagine a Ferris wheel made of herbs and flowers in The Drowning Valley (Marj Sanur), in Sanur, Jenin. It exists on another plane that is accessible only by Palestinians and ancestral spirits. The Ferris wheel transports you to the sea and into the ether. In this mode of the future,
Palestinians have developed supernatural powers and teleport in and out of different spiritual planes. Their powers and teleportation devices such as the Ferris wheel are passed down by the spirits of children.

Sanur Lake is present in Palestinian oral and written folk stories as a sign of the abundance of rainwater. Located in the northern occupied West Bank, in Jenin, its valley transforms into a grey, shallow lake after the rainy winter season, giving it the nickname “The Drowning Valley”. Jenin, my father's home village, is part of a coastal strip extending along the Mediterranean Sea. However, most occupied West Bank Palestinians do not know this coast and have never been able to visit it because Israel's Apartheid Wall has turned the territory into isolated cantons.

Sanur Lake is located in an area surrounded by a mountain chain in the towns of Sanur, Meithalun, al-Judeida, Siris, Sir, Misilyah, and Jarba.

The mountain chains are the reason for the rainfall accumulation, and the lake, while beautiful to witness for most, means the destruction of crops for Palestinian farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture has been unable to solve the problem. In the past, the drowning valley only appeared every decade or so, but due to climate change, and more heavy and regular rainfall, the lake is now a permanent fixture in the winter.

Extinction was written in memory of the Gazan Wild Rabbit. Reservoir incorporates interviews and field recordings on water and access from folks in Nablus, Bethlehem and Ramallah, including children from Jalazon Refugee camp, compiled by my colleague Riham.

Offerings II is the video version of the first single from this project, released here in digital audio and CD format.

credits

released December 15, 2021

Written, Produced and Performed by Donia Jarrar

Violins- Xenia Deviatkina-Loh and Kate Outterbridge
Viola-Cassia Streb
Cello-Jennifer Bewerse

Mastering on 1- Josephine Shetty
Mastering on 2 and 4- Alberto Lopez
Mastering on 3- Ryan Gregory Tallman

Recorded at Tropico Union Studios and California Institue of the Arts, with funding supported by The AM Qattan Foundation and the Mosaic Rooms in London

Photography by John Bubniak
Special Thanks to Chris Labadie, Randa Jarrar, Asiya Later, Manan Kocher and Fadi Shihadeh, Ramy El-Etreby, Irene Yeh and Nancy Alexander.

Music Videos Directed by Adrian Hernandez and Donia Jarrar
Set Design by Samira Idroos
Costume by Maria Emma Galba
Makeup by Valerie Von Prisk
Hair by Rebecca Chavez

For my mama, without whom my life as a pianist would not have been possible. Thank you for transferring your magic to me. I love you, endlessly.

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about

Phonodelica Los Angeles, California

PHONODELICA is the experimental sound project from Palestinian-Egyptian-American composer, producer and performer Donia Jarrar.

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