Bristol lullabies project attracts worldwide interest

Roxana Vilk and husband Peter Vilk have kept the first Zoom workshop to "a small size 20 people"

An artist collecting lullabies from communities across Bristol said being forced by lockdown to take the project online had created worldwide interest.

Roxana Vilk said the pandemic had changed the project "enormously" as she could no longer record songs in person and had set up a Zoom workshop.

"The interest has been quite overwhelming, people from all over the world will be taking part," she said.

She said the biggest challenge would be not being in the same room as everyone.

Roxana started the project a year ago and has collected 20 songs from different communities across Bristol - a city where more than 90 languages are spoken.

British Iranian artist and musician Roxana Vilk started collecting lullabies from different communities in Bristol a year ago

She said she had noticed her own children, and those of friends, were more anxious since lockdown.

"Some kids are not sleeping as well, or crying more and need more cuddles. It's an anxious time for everyone and it will show up differently for us all.

"Lullabies are like a sonic hug or a cosy sound duvet. Bedtime rituals are essential to our well being and lullabies are part of that fabric.

"We have had interest from India and Australia, which would never have happened had we not been 'forced' into this situation with the Covid-19 pandemic."

Taban Osman said: "A Kurdish lullaby is made of sound and movement - the mother's voice and the rocking moves of a wooden cradle."

Taking part in the first Zoom workshop is Taban Osman, who moved to Bristol 14 years ago from Iraqi Kurdistan.

"It's not perfect because I love to meet people face-to-face," she said.

"You don't need a perfect singing voice because to the baby a mother's voice is the best and sweetest voice ever."

The project, commissioned by Bristol's Trinity Centre, is part of the National Lottery's Here and Now, a national and local celebration of culture within communities.