Singing Wells
Sonic Inheritances, 2011–present

Singing Wells is dedicated to recording, archiving, and circulating music traditions from East Africa. Working as an itinerant studio, the project documents performances, interviews, and sound-based storytelling in collaboration with a diverse multitude of musicians, multi-instrumentalists, and sonic historians across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Mozambique, and South Africa. The archive now includes over 370 group performances. The project’s mission is a decolonial endeavour to make the intangible cultural heritage of East Africa available and relevant to current and future generations of music-makers and listeners.  

This second iteration of Sonic Inheritances is co-commissioned with Sharjah Art Foundation and presented in a specially designed listening and gathering space at Bergen Kunsthall. Building on its first showing at Sharjah Biennial 16 (2024), the installation brings together many soundtracks, performance videos, musical instruments, and texts.  
 
A multimedia archival display is organised across four curated listening pods to  explore the lineage of ancient instruments, including the eight-stringed nyatiti of western Kenya, while also showcasing the broader connectivities of musical traditions of the region, such as the dispersal of taraab music along the Swahili coast and Arabian Gulf. It traces familial legacies of intergenerational music-making, capturing songs of celebration and lament. Singing Wells foregrounds collaborative recording and the preservation of living traditions, prioritising ongoing access and practice over static archiving. 

Singing Wells was founded in 2011 by Tabu Osusa. It is a collaboration between Abubilla Music, a record label in London, and Ketebul Music in Kenya, a non-profit organisation committed to identifying, preserving, and promoting the music of East Africa. Its name references how during the dry season in Kenya, the Samburu tribe gather around deep wells dug into parched riverbeds and sing different songs at each. Travelling far and wide, and to the most remote villages of the region, the project’s aim is to record, archive, and share the traditional music of East Africa in order to celebrate and sustain its extraordinary musical heritage. Singing Wells is a collective of musicians, sound and video engineers, and producers who collaborate with other East African musicians to help ensure that their traditions continue to be practised and shared as widely as possible, not least in order to inspire today’s audiences.

What’s on?

  • Listening Session, Sonic Inheritances by Singing Wells with Tabu Osusa Bergen Kunsthall
    • View full programme
    © Singing Wells Singing Wells, Kizazi Kipya Kidumbak for Sonic Inheritances, 2025.