Research Spotlight: Dr Syma Tariq
The School of History is delighted to welcome a new research fellow.
Dr Syma Tariq will be working with Prof Will Gould on the project, ‘Tape Letters: Archiving Audio Histories in Pakistan and the UK (1960-1990)‘, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
What did you do before coming to Leeds?
I completed my PhD at the Centre for Creative Research in Sound Arts Practice (Crisap), University of the Arts London, in 2023. My doctoral research Partitioned Listening explored the aural-archival forms of knowledge production surrounding the1947 Partition of British India, proposing it as a ‘sonic condition’ through feminist and postcolonial theory and oral historical/archival interrogations, also working with the audio essay form. Since then I have been working on collaborative and pilot research on revoicing film with Professor Kevin Smets at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and have contributed to the books Listening Glossary (Silverpress 2026), Bodies of Sound (Silverpress 2024) and Pakistan Desires (Duke University Press 2023). I have engaged in various artistic projects including Metal on Metal (curated public programme, Auto Italia South-East, 2026), Unheard (theatrical performance, Justice Project Pakistan, 2025), Delay Lines (sound/text exhibition, Tower Hamlets Library and Archives, 2023) and A Thousand Channels (radio art series, Colomboscope festival, 2021–2024)
What excites you about this project?
Tape Letters is a growing collection of cassette tapes that hold the voices of loved ones speaking to each other across borders. The research project it has birthed troubles many fixed ideas about sound archiving, listening, language, Pakistan, Kashmir, migration and community histories and material memory. I am excited about how emerging Tape Letter collections in England, Scotland and Pakistan will trigger new methods and practices merging historical research with sound studies. It is also a privilege to explore the cassette communication practices that were important for so many who moved to the UK in the second half of the 20th century.
What will your research involve?
As a Research Fellow I am expecting to be involved in many aspects, from oral history interviews with the original owners of the cassettes to leading critical discussion labs centred on listening to them from various subject positions. I am looking forwarding to getting involved with the regional exhibitions and co-authored books planned for Tape Letters, as well as develop my thinking and writing around sound, remediation and archival politics.
