'Timbila ta Muane' (2016, 61 mins)

please note sound begins shortly after the image.

This immersive sensory ethnographic multi-screen installation film (2016, 61 mins) depicts Chopi timbila master Filipiane and his group Timbila ta Muane, from the town of Muane, Zavala district, in southern Mozambique.

Timbila is an endangered xylophone tradition native to Mozambique but recognised internationally as a profound expression of Chopi culture. However, groups of this size are now uncommon, with full ngodo performances increasingly rare. With only a few masters left alive to continue the oral heritage, rehearsals like this may disappear altogether.

This film is part of doctoral research into dyslexia, neurodiversity, and oral music traditions. The film was designed as an installation with four separate video projectors and stereo speakers, giving viewers the chance to move through the immersive space and experience the various visual and sonic perspectives of the players. Presented here is a flattened composite version.

The PhD research compares dyslexic strengths and weaknesses with cultural practices such as music-making, arguing for timbila's potential to cultivate deeper understandings about health, wellbeing and developmental interventions for dyslexia.

Following completion in 2021, the full PhD web-thesis 'Dyslexic Ways of Knowing: a reflexive study of Chopi timbila xylophone musicking in Mozambique' is now available online at https://submissions.soas.ac.uk/timbil...

This film makes up one of 8 chapters, with the rest of the thesis contextualising various overlapping themes.