The name of the project signifies the intent: to take as much space as possible to report on the stories of women in Algeria. The meeting with Medjeda and Nadjoua is only the first in what would be a month of research in Algiers, listening to the voices that populate the airwaves and web spaces.
I am a guest in the house that once belonged to Mohamed Khadda , painter and militant of the independence movement, a space that is being transformed into a cultural centre and residence by the Rhizome gallery.
The Algerian population, in their rejection of and disinterest in the voice of the colonizer, did not own any radio equipment until In less than 20 days all the devices sold out. Broadcast from an unspecified place, it encounters the complicity of Egypt, Syria, and a network of Arab countries that rely on radio frequencies, avoiding sabotage of the airwaves by the colonial power. Discontinuous and often interrupted, the radio liberated new languages, beginning to finally make the idea of an independent nation possible and true.
Authorisations are so difficult to obtain that the number of private radio stations can be counted on one hand and, people commonly speak of radio as a state monopoly. Yet new radio productions are born every week, circumventing government hurdles through podcasting and social media platforms.
All it takes is a smartphone to record, and from that anyone can launch a new series on Instagram, YouTube, Soundcloud or Spotify. They talk about the projects of Algerian women artists and their successes, but also about the violence or strong discrimination women endure, sanctioned by the Algerian Family Code, which still establishes de facto subordination of women to fathers, brothers or husbands.
