Nichts ist lauter als der Klang der Freiheit

In the organizer's words:

Lecture/discussion: Syria's protest song tradition
Language:German/Arabic/English

"Nothing is louder than the sound of freedom". This was the inscription on a poster held aloft by a participant in a demonstration in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in June 2013. The location of the demonstration was Bustan al-Qasr, a district in eastern Aleppo that had long been a center of creative resistance against the Assad regime. The "sound of freedom", which the inscription on the poster recorded, has been heard throughout Syria in the form of protest songs since the outbreak of the protest movement in 2011. These songs have been documented by private individuals and activists in countless YouTube videos.

On May 30, we will present selected examples of this protest song tradition at Bellevue di Monaco and invite you to a joint discussion: What different musical traditions can be heard in these songs? What insights do they provide into the different (local) histories of the Syrian protest movement? What role does their memory play after the fall of Assad and for the cultural reconstruction of the country? And how can it be preserved for future generations? Participants are cordially invited to bring their own song examples (on a USB stick or as a YouTube link, with or without translation).

The event is being held in cooperation with the Young Academy of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Guests:
Eylaf Bader Eddin ("Translating the Language of the Syrian Revolution 2011/12", De Gruyter, 2023")
Clara Wenz ("Music during the Syrian War: Displacement and Memory in Hello Psychaleppo's Electro-Tarab", Cambridge, 2023)
Sana Yazaji, founder of the digital archive "The Creative Memory of the Syrian Revolution"

Idil Ira, student of the Davidson College

Registration at: https://forms.office.com/e/5J3DphTGAj?origin=lpr