Meet Shiva Shahmir, this month’s featured Detroit Documenter

The Detroit Documenters program trains and pays Detroiters to attend local public meetings and monitor elected officials, in collaboration with local journalists. Hundreds of residents are active in the program, bringing more transparency to local government through their meeting notes, live tweets and civic participation.

Meet Shiva Shahmir: an artist, sound engineer and self-proclaimed “frequency practitioner” who teaches music technology and techniques at Wayne State University. Shiva also directs a free-form community art incubator at Spread Art, the nonprofit that brought her to Detroit in 2016 as an artist in residence.

Shiva said she was attracted to join Detroit Documenters in 2021 when she saw ads for the program on social media and elsewhere. She was excited about the ability to collect information and share knowledge.

Shiva relates information to radio waves. “It’s in the air, but you can’t see it. If you don’t tune your station, you won’t get the information,” she explained. She added that knowledge is power, and if someone goes without it, they won’t notice how everything is connected.

Once Shiva began documenting public meetings, she was surprised to find every meeting had new information she thought people needed to know. She appreciates that as a Documenter, she can bring awareness to and “consolidate different issues that I care about and still be involved in the process of hopefully making things better.”

Shiva feels duty-bound — by her Iranian heritage, upbringing and beliefs — to be involved in purposeful work. In that way, she values the interaction with other Documenters in the network. “It’s just nice to feel engaged and connected to our environment.”

To join the Detroit Documenters, create your free account at detroit.documenters.org. Learn more about how to connect with Shiva below.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Name:

Shiva Shamir

Location:

Detroit

What I do:

I think of myself as a frequency practitioner because I work with vibrations that take different forms in the fields of audio, video, radio, internet and art.

I am currently part-time faculty at Wayne State University in the music technology program, teaching both Introduction to Music Technology and Studio Recording Techniques and talking about frequency a lot in terms of acoustics and waveforms. Until October, I was working with frequencies of a different rate that carry internet connections to low-income residents in Detroit. I was intensely involved with writing curriculum, training residents, installing and maintaining community wireless internet networks in Detroit as a digital steward.

I enjoy painting, photography, collage and sound design, but my practice consists mostly of “social sculpture.” I came to Detroit in November 2016 for an artist residency at Spread Art . Nine months later, the founding director resigned, and I have been voluntarily managing operations and the facilities ever since.

In 2020, I officially stepped into the role of president at Spread Art. We have a small theater, gallery and seven artist studios. Our mission is to serve as a creative incubator providing opportunities for the Detroit community to collaborate, exhibit, experiment, experience, perform, practice and organize cultural activities such as art, dance, music and storytelling. I am usually positioned as a sound engineer.

How does this relate to frequency? It’s wonderful hearing how people love the vibes, especially “old Detroit vibes” that I hope we can continue facilitating for the future of Detroit’s art and cultural communities.

What I love about it:

My parents waited 10 years to leave Iran and immigrate to the United States before having me. They genuinely wanted a daughter, but did not want to raise one under the oppressive regime of the Islamic Republic that came into power following the revolution that broke out not long before they were married. As a result, it has always been important for me to dedicate myself to the liberties my family sacrificed for me to access, like freedom of expression, communication and the press.

Under the current regime, I could be persecuted for much of what I believe in and do, whether advocating for women’s rights, community technology and digital inclusion, operating a community arts space, being an artist in general, loving my dogs or especially being a civic documenter and holding public officials accountable with their own words.

One thing I want to get from the Documenters community:

It has been fascinating learning more about the city firsthand through the public meetings we cover, sharing with others around me and learning how relevant these meetings are to our everyday lives. I’ve appreciated the feedback from editors and want to continue becoming a better Documenter. I’d like to eventually expand into writing civic guides, live tweeting and producing multimedia pieces.

One thing I can give to the Documenters community:

It would be great to connect with Documenters who want to record. I love bringing media pieces to life — whether audio, video or slideshow format — and making technology more accessible. I am enthusiastic when it comes to troubleshooting and problem-solving, so if you have problems with your computer, internet or stereo system, I love helping!

Which music album do you go back to over and over again?

I could go in various directions, but I think I have to go with an album that has been a soundtrack for my family from before I existed. “Songs in the Key of Life” by Stevie Wonder. My parents learned how to speak English to this album in an underground English class in Iran before immigrating, and I credit it for my pull to Detroit long before I knew I would live here. They were taught that if they could translate Stevie Wonder songs, they could grasp more depth and meaning in the language through his frequent use of metaphors.

How you can reach me:

At shiva.studio .

Meet Shiva Shahmir, this month’s featured Detroit Documenter · Outlier Media