REEM MAGHRIBI, AUGUST 2021
oral histories are recordings of individuals telling stories about their lives and about events they have witnessed and experienced. they can be told as monologue narratives or through interview. such first-hand accounts give people the power to tell their own history, which is all too often told by “victors” and the powerful. being able to share their individual stories gives storytellers a sense of ownership and control and can be very empowering. it also promotes self-reflection and critical thinking.
sharing these stories and diverse narratives instigates internal dialogue, discussion across borders, and can impact and feed into cultural outputs, research and policy.
the stories and collections sharq.org produces reflect diverse topics and communities of and from the Arab region and aim to strengthen the ability of citizens to hear and be heard and to engage in honest productive interactions, free from the rhetoric and analyses of politicians and pundits.
we at sharq.org publish the stories we record and document on Tarikhi, an archive of oral histories from the Arabic speaking region, so that they may be heard and considered by individuals worldwide. we also share them at events, through books, through and other creative outputs, such as theatre, animations and podcasts. and we invite researchers and journalists and artists and cultural practitioners and all other storytelling professionals to engage in and utilise the stories we document to produce new innovative and creative outputs. this approach supports – and is supported by – our vision and approach that centres individual voices and representation in a bid to promote a culture of collaboration.
