The Cassette Tape Project, 2013
Mixed media installation

Photographer/blogger Hind Mezaina takes the viewer on a journey through the history of the cassette tape and its association to Dubai, both on a personal level, growing up in the UAE and obsessively listening to music from the west. 

On display will be Hind’s personal collection of cassettes bought through the 1980s and 1990s as a young female teenager and adult living in the UAE. Also on showcase will be a selection of short films on the theme of the cassette tape, and a series of projected images from Hind’s ‘My Dubai’ photographic series. 

Come join us this weekend and listen to fun, nostalgic music and get creative by making your very own mixtape. This project was originally commissioned by Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp.

“Cassettes have played an important part of my life when I was growing up in Dubai in the 1970s/80s. There was an amazing selection of cassettes on sale  - all pirated copies, but they kept me up to date with the pop music scene. Additionally, I would make my own mixtapes, recording my favourite songs from the radio for me to listen to whenever I like or for friends.

And that's the beauty of cassettes; they are tangible objects that hold memories, whether brought from a music store, or a personal mixtape of music and words. 

I am sharing my personal collection of cassettes from the late 1980s till the early 1990s. A record of my music and tastes over the decade.” Hind Mezaina


Commissioned by Tashkeel for Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp 2013.