SAF announces an open call to build UAE Voice Recordings Archive

For this open call, participants should submit cassette tapes that document personal messages, exchanges and stories shared between family members, friends and loved ones—across borders, across generations or in casual gatherings. These tapes serve as cultural artefacts and historical records of migration, identity and the changing dynamics of communication.

The Foundation plans to build an archive of sound that not only reflects personal narratives but also speaks to larger social and cultural shifts, from the transformation of long-distance communication, to changes in attitudes, economic activity and population size and distribution.

Personal cassette tapes should date to the period between 1970 and 2000 and should be related to the UAE, but the project is open to contributions from surrounding regions with similar practices of cassette tape communication. Tapes can be in the following languages: Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, Tamil, Sinhala, Bengali, Nepali, Swahili, Tagalog, Farsi and English.

The tapes should contain voice messages, songs or recordings from family and friends, including but not limited to the following:

• Correspondence between family members separated by distance, particularly messages related to migration or work in the Gulf
• Mixtapes or voice letters
• Tapes containing informal conversations that capture everyday life, celebrations and rituals

The submitted tapes will be digitised and archived along with a transcript of the content on each tape. Participants may request the return of their tapes at no cost.

The deadline for the entries is 8 May 2025.