Humming Home Public history and Sound - By Myriam Dalal (fr)

Humming Home is a series of events that aim to look at how different cultures, community groups, and people use sound, music, and silence to talk about their history.

What can music and history have in common? Can the sound tell us more about the past? What role does the voice have in this? And what about silence? Does it also speak? And does voice imply agency over history? How are sounds and their absence reflected in our political and cultural recollection of the past?

Event Details:

The series “Humming Home” is kicking off with a live jazz concert and discussion with Palestinian composer and musician Mohamed Najem from Mohammed Najem Quartet on January 16, 2025.

The event will include:

A short presentation by Dr. Myriam Dalal of her research project at the University of Luxembourg.

A presentation by curator Charlotte Masse of Konschthal’s ongoing exhibition Dis-Placed, in discussion with Dalal, focused on the works of visual artist Taysir Batniji.

Discussion between Dalal and invited musician and composer Mohamed Najem on his work, his thought process when creating music to talk about history and belonging.

Live performance by Mohamed Najem Jazz Quartet.

Reception and discussion in the bar

Public History at the University of Luxembourg:

Led by Public History professor Thomas Cauvin from the Center for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH) at the University of Luxembourg, the project ‘Public History as a New Citizen Science of the Past’ (PHACS), has been developing collaborative practices to produce history.

“Are We Home Yet?” research project:

The word “home”, in different languages, is usually associated with many derivatives, each touching on a different side of home and what it entails. Migrants/exiles are individuals who, by definition, have ‘lost’ their ‘home’ and therefore are in search of a new one. The idea of a home and the meaning of the word, in the case of migrants/exiles, is therefore amplified and gains more impact and depth.

Since 2023, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Myriam Dalal joined the PHACS team of researchers to develop and lead the project “Are we Home Yet?” which looks at the quest for home and its interpretations for several migrant communities living in Luxembourg.

Working at the intersection of Public History and the Arts, and alongside prof. Cauvin, Dr. Dalal is developing two experimentalist art projects that put forward alternative and unexplored histories of the city of Esch sur Alzette in Luxembourg.

Mohamed Najem, the Jazz Quartet and “Jaffa Blossom”:

Mohamed Najem is a clarinetist born in Palestine and stands at the crossroads of three musical cultures: Oriental music, classical music, and jazz. Inspired by the stories his grandfather, born in Jaffa ("the bride of the sea and the city of oranges"), the artist draws from his travels and memories to infuse his melodies with vivid colours.

In his latest album “Jaffa Blossom”, Najem is driven by this spiritual and memorial quest, to draw the map of his own territory through music.

The chosen instrumentation, typically jazz—namely the quartet with piano, double bass, and drums—stands out not only for its originality in reinventing the genre, far from clichés and habits, but also for the level of each member and the relevance of each contribution. Whether it’s the piano of Clément Prioul, the double bass of Arthur Henn, or the drums of Baptiste Castets, each intervention is thoughtfully crafted.

In collaboration with Uni.lu - Centre pour l’Histoire Contemporaine and Digitale (C2DH) www.c2dh.uni.lu and Fnr.lu (Are We Home Yet? is an FNR-funded project).

Free of charge | Subject to availability | Booking required.