Yamen Mekdad
Yamen Mekdad is a sound enthusiast brought up in Damascus and based in London. Yamen’s music collection spans across folk to jazz, field recordings, experimental and electronic music from around the world, with a special focus on the geography of Bilad Al Sham, greater Syria. Yamen is one of the founders of London-based Makkam collective that organises different types of gatherings centred around music, a co-host of DanDana, a radio show investigating the greater SWANA region sound waves on SOAS radio, as well as a member of Sawt of the Earth collective experimenting at the convergence between sonic memory and social collaboration.
Yamen is a frequent contributor to multiple radios including Root, Balami, Radio Al hara among others. He is also currently involved in the Syrian Cassette Archives, where he is working as an assistant curator/producer alongside Mark Gergis and the wider team towards creating a web based platform focused on the Syrian cassette era. Yamen is also responsible for curating the musical program for an upcoming festival on Syrian art and culture that is due to take place in London this coming January.