Listen: Playlist Compiled By Pakistani Feminist Collective Girls at Dhabas

Girls at Dhabas is a feminist collective in Pakistan who are reclaiming public spaces for women.

In accordance with their work, they occasionally upload playlists to SoundCloud made for/by South Asia women spotlighting the hard work they do. The first playlist was 38-track longs that contained the likes of Slowspin, Sulk Station and Nomad.

They uploaded a 38-track playlist yesterday titled ‘Of Living, Breathing Fires’. Apart from a few regular names like _RHL, spirare, Nomad, Pardafash, Sandunes and Slowspin, there’s a whole host of names (most of them Pakistani) that you should familiarise yourself with.

Though there’s no cohesive structure to the playlist, the importance of spotlighting the work done by South Asian women cannot be negated and Girls at Dhabas have done a fantastic job of that.

“This playlist taps into the themes of desire and longing, as encapsulated in some of the music made by women in South Asia. It is a sequel to the first playlist, in a way, but it goes beyond visible spaces, and instead delves into the innermost spaces residing within female musicians from our region. What drives these women to see more, do more, be more than who they are? What leaves them wanting more?
Who are we, as women, within and beyond these confines and places in which we exist? What drives us and our beating, bleeding hearts to escape all those things encircling and besieging us? The driving force that propels our hearts and minds forward – our lust for life, our insatiability -- what are we – each of us – tied to that we want to break free from?
It goes without saying that there is no collective message to be deciphered here. There can’t possibly be. Our desires are complex, resolute, meandering, fragile, and our very own -- there is no one experience, no single truth. The music in this playlist is a testament to female longing and desire as documented by South Asian music of all genres – indie, fusion, classical, electronic – and symbolic of a larger conversation led by female musicians from Nepal, Pakistan and India.” - Girls at Dhabas

While away your afternoon with the playlist below. Follow Girls at Dhabas on Facebook or Tumblr to find out more about their work.

Image credit: Girls at Dhabas