"the bow project" invited south african, and later faroese, composers to transcribe and paraphrase or reimagine, for the classical string quartet, the uhadi songs of nofinishi dywili. composers based their transcription on the field recordings of ethnomusicologist dr dave dargie, made between 1980 and 2002. the medium of the string quartet was seen as providing a perfect bridge between the world of traditional bow music and the world of new classical music. "the bow project" was launched at the new music indaba in 2002, and new works premiered at subsequent festivals. a south african tour in 2009 was followed by the cd production. each concert included performances of the uhadi songs interpreted by musicians of the next generation, namely madosini and mantombi matotiyana. the project is dedicated to the memory of nofinishi dywili who died in 2002. according to dargie, dywili possessed "exceptional rhythmic skill… whatever of the marvellous and complex rhythms there were in any of the songs – 10-vs-8 cross-rhythms or whatever – nofinishi would also effortlessly bring in greater rhythmic complexity, making the songs even more wonderful."