Amu: Aryana Sayeed, the Afghan pop star and women’s rights advocate, received two honors at the Daf Bama Music Awards, held Saturday in the German city of Oberhausen. Sayeed was awarded the festival’s Humanitarian Award and was named Best Afghan Artist. The annual international event, which celebrates multicultural music and artists with global impact, brought
Amu: The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has inscribed the art of crafting and playing the rubab as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, recognizing Afghanistan and its neighbors Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Rubab is one of the oldest musical instruments in Central, South, and Southwest Asia. Crafted from dried mulberry wood collected in deserts,
The Guardian (UK): “The Taliban tried to silence us,” said Ahmad Sarmast, the director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, in his new office in Braga. “But we’re much stronger and much louder than yesterday.” Click here to read more (external link).
BBC: As the world was watching the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, two sisters in Kabul were among millions of women in Afghanistan who could directly feel the new regime tightening its grip on them. They decided they couldn’t just stand back and watch women’s freedoms being restricted, and started secretly using the
Khaama: Gulalai Farida, known as Ustad Mahwash, is one of Afghanistan’s most beloved musicians, earning titles such as “Ustad” (meaning master) and “Lady of Afghan Music” throughout her illustrious career. After five decades of artistic dedication, she bid farewell to the stage. Click here to read more (external link).
Before Taliban rule in Afghanistan, Sardar Mohammad made his living and provided for his family by playing the harmonium, a traditional folk instrument that was popular at celebrations. Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, playing and listening to music has been banned, with sermons or Koran readings replacing the melodies once heard at
RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal Abubakar Siddique June 3, 2022 PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Zaryali is among the hundreds of Afghan musicians who have fled to neighboring Pakistan since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Soon after seizing power in August, the Taliban outlawed music and footage emerged of its fighters publicly beating and humiliating musicians and burning their instruments. The
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 29, 2022 U.S. cellist Yo-Yo Ma joined refugees from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music for a performance in Lisbon, Portugal, where the Afghan musicians have sought asylum. Ma joined young Afghan and Portuguese musicians for the performance of a Mozart piece on March 29 on a small stage at
8am: Local artists in Kapisa province have expressed concern about restrictions imposed by local officials in the province, saying that their economic problems and security concerns have multiplied since the fall of the republic. They say their professional lives are under threat. Local artists in Kapisa are asking the authorities to allow them to work
NPR: After the Taliban took over Afghanistan, members of the institute feared for their lives. After five airlifts starting Oct. 2, nearly 300 students, faculty and family members affiliated with the music school all made it safely to Doha by mid-November. Click here to read more (external link).