Algeria on YouTube

October 10, 2007

One result of the rise of the internet is that the work of preservation has been democratized. Photos and memories and songs from the past can be easily posted online and presented in creative ways. A wonderful example of this is the work of Kathleen Woolrich, whose YouTube channel is kwoolr. On her YouTube channel Woolrich has posted 143 videos, the vast majority of which are connected with the history of Algeria.

I have to admit a high degree of curiosity about the motivation for an effort like this. In the video at the beginning of this post she writes: "A love not bound by time ALGERIA my adored and treasured dearest Algeria". Obviously this is no academic interest.. but something with deep personal roots. To me this personal motivation only heightens the interest of the material itself. Now it is a personal construction of Algeria, guided by memory or other mediated sources.

Some examples of Woolrich's work:

This video is a tour through a personal travel journal, complete with photos and drawings. There is no commentary to explain what this might be.. or when it came from.. but it is an example of how YouTube could be used to give tours of rare material.

This video is similar to a podcast. Woolrich (I assume) talks about the village of Honaine, its history and physical setting. A few pictures get used as backdrops to the narration, but these remain mostly stationary. The audio quality could be better.. but that is forgivable since it gives us a voice that is personal and engaged with the material.

This video is a history of Rai music in Oran. Again the narration is by Woolrich. A number of her videos deal with historic musical styles from Algeria.

These web-based labors of love abound. I was reminded of an older website by the the Egyptian Samir Rafaat, whose book on Maadi I admire. The website is not the work that a scholar would come up with.. and not something that would get NEH funding.. but it ends up becoming a testimony to the work of an individual motivated by love of a place. I always enjoy these sites more than the big official ones. Maybe I am just contrarian by nature, but give me something with feeling and I will live with poor audio quality.