My Family Archive, Iman Ahmed
Tuesday 10 Nov 2026 from 7pm to 8:30pm
Free on booking
My Family Archive is an original performance by Iman Ahmed based on her first novel, Abdallah Superstar, published by Actes Sud. Through a combination of readings and screenings, the writer continues her exploration of her father’s video archives, accompanied by DJ and producer Songo, to bring the sounds of 1990s Djiboutian pop back to life.
When she decided to reactivate her father’s YouTube channel, two years after his death, Iman Ahmed had no idea that she would be bringing a lost world back to life. Before her eyes, dozens of videos filmed in the 1990s in Djibouti, the country of her childhood, unfolded. Concerts and music videos in which she discovers, in disbelief, the existence of Dinkara, a legendary Djiboutian pop band whose superstar is called Abdallah. The music is electronic, the ambition immense…
With My Family Archive, Iman Ahmed continues the exploration begun in her novel and examines what these family archives bring to light. In this original production for Lafayette Anticipations, the narrative transforms before our eyes into a tale told through subtle clicks, blending readings and projections. Through this immersion in family and digital memory, a country emerges – Djibouti – along with a vibrant music scene: that of 1990s pop.
The DJ and producer Songo accompanies the performance. A Franco-Djiboutian artist, she fuses house, baile funk and percussion in compositions that are both spellbinding and contemplative. Conceived as an echo of the novel Abdallah Superstar, this immersive production creates a dialogue between literature, archive footage and music, inviting the audience to listen anew to the traces of a vanished world.