The Forgetting of Air | Anguezomo & Rusnam

"The Forgetting of Air: Hauntologies of the Global South" explores the politics, power, and profound metaphysics of the human breath in music, focusing on the vocal innovations of Black female forgotten pioneers of sound and breath. We share how voice and acoustic memory are a living "archive of breath" linked to anti-colonial movements, ancestral knowledge, and spiritual traditions. We reflect on how iconic and radical musicians, such as Jeanne Lee, Linda Sharrock, Stella Chiweshe, and Totó la Momposina, mastered distinct breathing techniques, sighs, groans, and screams to bypass standard language, challenge patriarchal and colonial constraints, and turn their lungs into a site of historical testimony, ecological solidarity, and ultimate liberation.