MUSICAL GENOCIDE: TALIBAN STYLE

Scenes from a Kabul recording studio post Taliban visit.

August 15th 2021: The news of the Taliban’s capture of Kabul in Afghanistan seemed so fast and to catch many of us unawares. Yet, there had been much talk in the media for the few months previously about getting Afghans out who had helped Australian troops in some capacity - so not such a surprise.

But now as we renew our parochial concerns with the Covid pandemic and American submarines, i worry that the plight of Afghanistan becomes a forgotten problem, and a distant memory. Already there are stories from around the country of Afghan girls not allowed to attend school, of musicians being killed, and a general sense of helplessness.

I first began my adventures in Kabul back in 2013, an invited guest teacher at the Winter Academy of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM). I returned again in 2015, much more knowledgeable about what i could do to help the students there. What i found was a community proud of their musical heritage. Compare this to the Taliban reign in the 1990’s, when i heard stories of people losing ears, limbs and lives because they listened to a cassette in their car.

Under the leadership of Afghan/Australian musician Dr Ahmad Sarmast, ANIM was defiant, showcasing their music and culture to the world. It wasn’t without challenges though, for example the bombing at an ANIM concert where Dr Sarmast was injured and permanently lost hearing in one ear, not a great outcome for a musician.

I have kept in touch with some of the students from that time, mainly the boys, who are now young men. One now teaches clarinet at ANIM. Their news from Kabul has never been more alarming. A Taliban visit to a recording studio in Kabul didn’t go down so well. They were clearly not impressed with the grand piano! One of my students had previously recorded an album there, and was devastated by the senseless destruction. 

News from the school itself is equally depressing, seemingly under Taliban control. Most instruments are normally kept at the school, many donated from individuals and institutions around the world. As a result the students have no access to them, for some, not a bad thing at a time when many would be hiding their involvement with the school. I fondly remember climbing the stairs to the musical storeroom, fiercely guarded, even a single clarinet reed had to be signed out. I shudder to imagine what has happened to the instruments now.

Another promising clarinet student had already left the country, escaping to Tajikistan. I imagine a hopeful stepping stone in the journey to escape to the West. And what of the clarinet teacher i worked with in the school six years ago? Ustad Shefta was inspiring, more than just a music teacher. He had already escaped the Taliban two decades ago, but to do that again?

Pictured with esteemed teacher Shefta, clarinet teacher at ANIM

Equally alarming is the fate of other musicians outside Kabul. I have regular contact with a musician from Herat who is now living in the streets of Kabul. He left the music school in Herat, unable to access his instruments, fearful of returning to collect them.

So what can we do? It is not just the situation of these music students that alarms me. The temporary Afghani visa holders here in Australia are in limbo. Many are persecuted Hazaras, who surely cannot see any future back in their country under Taliban rule. The number of Afghans who got flights out of Kabul was meagre to say the least, Australia needs to take more humanitarian refugees. The rescuing of the Afghan Paralympians was amazing, but it does make me wonder why we can’t do this for the musical community too.

Dr Sarmast continues to show leadership from outside Afghanistan. If we could only take a few more music students in our national institutions too. Certainly other countries are taking much more action in this area.

Please consider making a donation to Cultures in Harmony, which raises money directly to pay for expenses relating to getting these musicians out. It is led by American violinist William Harvey, who was a long term staff member of ANIM, and a colleague when i taught there. At present there are more than 300 Afghan musicians on his list who need help. He has already successfully enabled some musicians out of the country to better futures, and to imagine playing music without fear of retribution.

Let's do our bit to preserve the musical heritage in Afghanistan, It would be very cruel to leave them to fend for themselves. At the very least, we need to show the Afghan musical community we are in solidarity, and continue to fight for their human right to make music.

culturesinharmony.org

RIVER LIFE: A Festival in Brewarrina

Ensemble Offspring just spent an epic weekend as part of Baiame’s Ngunnhu Festival in Brewarrina, run by Moogahlin Performing Arts. Around 774km northwest of Sydney, the town of Brewarrina sits right on a curve in the Barwon River, and the locals consider the fish traps (Ngunnhu) to be the oldest manmade structure in the world. According to legend, the ancestral figure Baiame cast a net across the river, creating the Ngunnhu, and the site has long been a meeting place for Indigenous peoples ever since.

So what was Ensemble Offspring doing at the Festival? We were there to perform works as part of the inaugural Indigenous Composers Initiative. This project involves Ensemble Offspring performing the works of five indigenous composers: Brenda Gifford, Rhyan Clapham, Elizabeth Sheppard, Troy Russell and Tim Gray. The works are incredibly varied, but all seem to reflect on a sense of place and belonging. It was especially fitting sitting back and hearing the rest of the group performing Troy Russell’s River Life, the group positioned metres away from the Barwon River, as dusk approached, with the sounds of galahs and children playing in the background.

We had performed this gig last year at Eora College in Redfern, but the music seemed more potent and meaningful at this festival. Perhaps it was the inquisitive nature of all the kids, who came up and sat right next to us as we warmed up and did a sound check. A couple even offered to be my page turner, as the wind was so gusty. Speaking of which, I certainly took in a mouthful or two of dirt, but managed to keep the flies at bay. Perhaps the music itself had a strong sense of connection to the land, and playing outside made this connection more visceral.

Before we performed, I managed to have a good look in the museum, where artwork reflected a lot on the life of the local people. Particularly moving were the videos on the stolen generation, with harrowing accounts of families torn apart.

The local kids performed before us, singing and rapping to messages of what life is like in Brewarrina, with lots of smiles, dancing and even some gymnastic moves thrown in. They were ably led by the inspirational Ryhan Clapham, recent recipient of the Peter Sculthorpe Music Fellowship.

And to top the day off, a Chinese dinner at the local RSL, which took me right back to Chinese restaurants of my childhood. Managed to fit in a game of pool and a couple of hours sleep at the Brewarrina Pub, before having to make a treacherous drive alone at 4:30am to Dubbo Airport, narrowly evading hundreds of roos along the highway.

While I won’t be making that pre-dawn drive again anytime soon, I certainly look forward to revisiting both this festival and the township of Brewarrina.