SONGS FROM THE SHORE

This musical culture also had a huge impact on the communities living on the shores, more specifically among the large community of women who did not go out to the sea and instead waited for their family and loved ones to return every year. Women on the shores created their own rituals and songs, always speaking to the sea and asking the sea to return their sons and husbands. Part of that ritual was the burning of the palm leaf and extinguishing it in the waters. It follows an old way of healing wounds by burning the skin to stop the bleeding or to burn parts of the body to purify it from fevers or sickness (cauterizing). The women on the shores burned the sea water with the hopes of purifying the waters and ensuring it keeps their beloved sailors safe.

The baskets are handmade by a mastercraft woman in the art of “Khos”, palm weaving in Saudi Arabia. The basket edges were burned and then smothered in the sea water, leaving the basket charred at the edges. This was conducted during a participatory session involving the community and residents of the island of Ibuki, Japan.