SYRIA: Three Iraqi musicians release their first album in bid to try and raise money for Iraqi refugees living abroad

Record ID: 278616

  • Title: SYRIA: Three Iraqi musicians release their first album in bid to try and raise money for Iraqi refugees living abroad
  • Date: 24th June 2009
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SALIM SALEM, LUTE PLAYER, SAYING "It (the album) is to prove to people that Iraq, despite what it has been through, is going through a positive transition period. Music is still improving despite the fact that Iraqi musicians are suffering from emigration and the fact that they are away from their home country but there is still a
  • Embargoed: 9th July 2009 13:00
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  • Reuters ID: LVA5M6Q8E4CT8M7ZCN9RI5LDJGB8
  • Story Text: Three Iraqi musicians playing traditional music have released their first album in a bid to try and raise money for Iraqi refugees living abroad.
    The trio, who held a concert in Damascus on Wednesday (June 17) have called the album 'Transitions' in a reference to the many changes Iraqi refugees have had to go through since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, which caused them to flee to neighbouring countries.
    Lute player Salim Salem said the purpose of the album was to show that, despite everything, Iraqi culture was still thriving.
    "It (the album) is to prove to people that Iraq, despite what it has been through, is going through a positive transition period. Music is still improving despite the fact that Iraqi musicians are suffering from emigration and the fact that they are away from their home country but there is still a connection between them and their country. It is a spiritual connection. At the same time, this transition could be used as a way to return to their country where they can live a normal life," he told Reuters Television.
    While Salem is living as a refugee in Damascus, Fadi Fares Aziz recently moved to the USA and Abdel Mounem has returned to Iraq after living in Syria as a refugee for several years.
    The album, produced in co-ordination with the United Nations Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Syria, contains 15 pieces of traditional Iraqi music and is being sold on several websites, where people can buy it for $1 USD per song.
    The whole idea of releasing the album, says Sybella Wilkes Regional Public Information Officer for the UNHCR in Syria, is to raise funds to help Iraqi refugees living abroad and make Iraqi music more widely available.
    "Some people are encouraged simply because they know that all the money that is raised is going to go straight back to Iraqi refugees and I think that there still is a lot of good will for refugees here in Syria but people don't know how to help and this is a very easy way. I think also some people are just interested in learning about Iraqi music and through these music websites, you can listen to the music and learn about it and we've seen already that a lot of people had listened and quite a lot of people have bought it already," she told Reuters Television.
    The album aims to reflect the variations in Iraqi culture across the country and features fifteen tracks that convey the sounds of northern Iraq, the Iraqi desert, Baghdad, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and Basra in the south.
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