Headline, September 01 2023/ ''' '' STUDENTS FREEDOM STRUMMS* '' '''

''' '' STUDENTS FREEDOM

 STRUMMS* '' '''

THE LITERARY PART OF THE PROGRAM HAS been curated by Afghan poet Mariam Meetra. Some of her poems are also on the program, including a work commissioned by DW, a manifesto titled '' Freedom is Your Voice. ''

BONN : The world is out of joint in many places, some more than others - like Afghanistan. On August 15, 2021, the lives of Marin, Shabana, Aman and other members of the Afghan National Youth Orchestra changed abruptly.

The young musicians' alma mater, the Afghan National Institute of Music [ANIM], became of the first targets of the new regime : they vandalized the classrooms and destroyed musical instruments.

'' My mother said to me, 'You also have to destroy your instrument, your sitar, or at least hide it well, '' Shabana recalls. '' So, my brother who is also a musician, and I wrapped our instruments in blankets and hid them in the laundry. For the next few months, Shabana was hardly allowed to leave the house :

'' My mother was afraid I would be picked up by the Taliban and forcibly married off.'' Marin also recounts similar experiences, '' Life changed abruptly. It was a nightmare.''

Giving Voice To A Silenced Country : Two years and what feels like a lifetime later, young musicians from Kabul sit in the spacious rehearsal rooms of the youth centre in Braga, Portugal. For more than a year, the city near Porto has been a new home to some 270 STUDENTS and faculty members from ANIM - a music conservatory in exile.

In a feat of strength led by ANIM founder Naser Ahmad Sarmast, the musicians managed to escape to Europe via Qatar.

'' Portugal was the first country that was willing to grant us asylum, '' says Sarmast. The professional musician hoped to effect lasting change in his country through projects such as ANIM or Zohra, the institute's all-female orchestra.

'' And I still have that hope,'' he insists, '' Because the Taliban won't last forever, must not last forever.''

'' When I arrived in Portugal, I started playing the violin again,'' Farida Ahmadi tells DW. '' That gives me strength, although my friends and family still live in a terrible situation in Afghanistan.'' The young musicians also see themselves as cultural ambassadors for their home country :

'' It's about giving our country a voice, '' says ANIM director Sarmast. The Taliban's ban on music has caused Afghanistan to go silent. But, as Sarmast says, music and poetry remain '' the soul of the people.''

The students from ANIM, which is now called ''ANIM in Portugal,'' share the stage at the youth centre with their peers from Germany. Young musicians have come here to Europe's Atlantic coast to rehearse the program for the Campus Concert with their Afghan Colleagues.

The group includes musicians from the National Youth Orchestra of Germany [ which has partnered with the Campus Project of DW and the Beethovenfest Bonn since 2015 ] as well as musicians from the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin.

After the final week of rehearsals in Bonn, the international ensemble will present the result of their hard work at the Campus Concert as part of the Beethoven fest on September 14 in the auditorium of Bonn University.

'' Projects like this help us get through this difficult time, Sarmast says. '' They give young people the feeling of finding a new home in music.

Growing Together Through Improvisation : Cymin Samavatie, the artistic director of the international project : '' Music is a language that has incredible power. And the beauty of it is that, when you speak that language to each other,it doesn't matter that you don't know German or Pashto or Dari.''

Summit Meeting Of Women Poets : For more than twenty years, the Beethoven fest Bonn and DW have been jointly mounting the Campus Project, a cultural platform for young musicians from around the world to come together.

'' Every Campus Project is something special,'' says Beethovenfest's Thomas Schneider. He adds that one of the biggest challenges this year has been accommodating the variety of cultures and languages of Afghanistan.

Afghan culture takes place within many languages, but especially in Pashtu and Dari.

One expression of this multiculturalism is in the poetry part of the Campus evening. Women musicians taking part in the project improvise to poetry by Afghan women poets of various epochs :

From Forough Farrokhzaad, an icon of Persian female poetry, to the Pashtu-language Afghan poets Parwin Malal and Shifiqa Khapalwak. The literary part of the program has been curated by Afghan poet Mariam Meetra.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Students, Struggles, Music and Poetry continues. The World Students Society thanks DW.

With most respectful and loving dedication to The Global Founder Framers of !WOW! - the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student in the world. See You all prepare for Great Global Elections on : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter X - !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

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