Music of the Ordam Shrine Festival Professor Rahile Dawut (Xinjiang University) Aynur Kadir (Simon Fraser University, Canada) Rahile Dawut has been conducting ethnographic fieldwork around the Xinjiang for over 20 years, and is the world’s leading expert on Uyghur shrine… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region’
Urumchi Soundwalks
Urumchi Soundwalks Conducting a series of soundwalks is a good way to gauge the range and diversity of the different mosques in Urumchi and to discern, en route, the ‘keynotes,’ ‘signals’ and ‘soundmarks’ of the surrounding city. Experimenting with phone-based… Read More ›
A Young Imam Starts the Late Afternoon Prayers at Urumchi Aq Mesjit
A Young Imam Starts the Late Afternoon Prayers at Urumchi Aq Mesjit (White Mosque) The ‘White’ Mosque is well attended for the late afternoon service during the month of Ramadan, by a mostly Uyghur population. A young imam calls attendees… Read More ›
Early Evening Prayers during Ramadan at Urumchi Shaanxi Dasi
Early Evening Prayers during Ramadan at Urumchi Shaanxi Dasi (陕西清真大寺) One of Urumchi’s largest and most influential Hui mosques, it dates from late Qing times and has also been the headquarters of the Urumchi Islamic Association. The Great Hall, with… Read More ›
Islamic Soundscapes of Khotan
Mu Qian (Research Student, Department of Music, SOAS, University of London) Khotan is situated on the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert. It is an area still dominated by Uyghurs. According to the national census in 2010, Uyghurs account for… Read More ›
Islam by Smartphone: the changing sounds of Uyghur religiosity
Rachel Harris (SOAS, University of London) Aziz Isa (Independent scholar) Over the past few years, localised violent incidents have become commonplace right across Xinjiang. State media blames the ongoing violence on the spread of Islamic jihadi ideals via the Internet… Read More ›
Al-Rahman
Recorded by: Rachel Harris and Aziz Isa Place: Shahyar county, Aqsu prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Date: August 2009 A Uyghur qushnach ritual specialist recites part of Surah Al-Rahman (The Beneficent, Q55:1-13) from the Qur’an. The recitation comes at the… Read More ›
Kashgar Shadiyanisi (Sama music and dance)
Performed by: Memet Tokhti and apprentices Place: Kashgar city, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Recorded by: Rachel Harris and Aziz Isa Date: August 2006 One of a series of pieces performed on the naghra (paired kettle drums) and sunay (shawm)… Read More ›
Subhan’Allāh
Place: Shahyar county, Aqsu prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Date: August 2009 Recorded by: Rachel Harris and Aziz Isa Pious Uyghur village women, led by ritual specialists called qushnach, recite a zikr: Subhan’Allāh wa bihamdihi, subhan’Allāh il adhīm (Glory to Allah and praise… Read More ›