Fayo Said
›Oromia Records‹

Themes

As part of her fellowship, Fayo Said worked on the project ›Oromia Records‹, a digital art archive for the remembrance and preservation of the culture, history and art of the Oromo, one of the largest ethnic groups in Ethiopia. »The Oromos have a rich (musical) history that is worth disclosing and archiving. Many classic but also lesser known records are scattered throughout the diaspora on cassettes. Therefore, it is my intention to digitalise and organise these records so that they are more easily accessible. ›Oromia Records‹ is a place where music fragments, snippets of live performances, (vintage) pictures, cultural dances and practices are curated and displayed.« Currently ›Oromia Records‹ can be found on Instagram, but in the future Said would like to make the archive accessible and experienceable through its own website.

Fayo Said is a photographer and board member of the Association of Black Art_ists e.V.  She is profoundly interested in how positive social changes can be initiated through creative methods and channels. In the past, she was actively involved in the Afro Student Association in The Hague - a platform that aims to empower the black community. As part of a research traineeship at the University of Leiden, Fayo conducted a combined literary and linguistic analysis of Iraqw tales.