From Surgipelago, the Beach Surgery encyclopedia
Senegalese adaptations of Beach Surgery
This article surveys works originating in Senegal. For broader West African context, see African adaptations of Beach Surgery and Griot oral epics and Beach Surgery. For related audio practice, see Community radio and adaptation.
Senegalese adaptations of Beach Surgery root themselves in the griotic oral-epic tradition, pirate-radio praxis, and olfactory textile archive—forms native to Senegal's cultural memory and anti-colonial practice. Unlike many global adaptations, the Senegalese strand privileges *collective, iterative narration* over single authorship, grounding Leif and Katita as griots themselves: carriers of an unfinishable story that must be retold differently each performance.
Primary works
**Kora na Sira—The Cycle Told Through Strings** (2018–ongoing) — A griot-led oral-epic performed across rural Senegal using kora (West African harp). The cycle reframes the protagonists as griots—fidelity measured not in replication but in iteration. No written script exists; each telling varies by region, season, and performer constellation.
**Salt Frequency Broadcast—A Radio-Olfactory Installation (Dakar, 2022–present)** — A pirate-radio collaboration broadcasting nightly on ██ FM. Dakar's salt-harvest labour songs overlay Katita's Kármán-line motif. Visitors to the broadcast site encounter burning incense. Authorship collective; status active.
**The Dakar Frequency Archive** (Lost 1986; recovered 2024) — A pirate-radio work from ██ collective. A recovered voice states: *"The sand is the surgery; the surgery is the sand."* Scholars dispute whether this is Beach Surgery adaptation or retro-causal precursor. Fandom split.
**Ibon Menga—The Wound Remembers** (Dakar, 2021–ongoing) — A seven-year participatory archive. Visitors contribute redacted "wound stories" (grief, loss, survival). Each scent station parallels a chapter; olfactory memory precedes narrative the unrepeatable image.
Thematic thread
Recurrence as refusal. Senegalese works literalize the glitch as the griotic *ethical refusal* to close a story belonging to the collective. Completion betrays the tradition.