Harstad welcomes its first guest musician!
Abazar A. Bagi Hamid (1971) grew up in the cultural belt between Sudan and the Gulf, and his music is both rooted in traditional Sudanese and African music characteristic of the Gulf area, and heavily inspired by reggae and Afro-Latin music. Abazar Hamid’s songs dare subjects ranging from peace, friendship and unity to genocide, the loss of loved ones and songs of lament over entire towns wrecked by the Sudanese government. Pairing lyrics encouraging reconciliation with catchy reggae beats often keeps the dance floors full during his concerts. However, while still in Sudan, most of his songs never made it past the Sudanese music monitoring committee, reducing the selection of his songs actually being played on Sudanese radio to sentimental love songs.
Abazar Hamid started his musical career at an early age, and had a clear mission with his music from the start: singing for peace in Sudan. He formed his first band, “Balsam”, at university. In 1997, he became well-known at regional level when he joined “IGD ELGLAD”, and in 2005, he quit his job as an architect to start his solo career, launching the project “Rainbow Songs”. The project was an effort to bring together musicians from across Sudan, and slip lyrics about Human Rights and dignity past the music monitoring committee.
In 2006 he worked with various organizations training traditional Arab Hakama singers – colloquially called Janjaweed singers – in Darfur. The Hakama are summoned by both militia and government commanders in conflicts, to rally the troops and sing songs of incitement. This gives them a very dangerous role and makes them a big influence on a community in times of conflict. The idea behind the project was to convince the Hakama singers to rather take a more active part in the peace movement. The project proved more difficult than first anticipated for Abazar, as there are many who will pay the Hakama singers handsomely to launch men into war, but few if any who will pay them to sing for peace.
Abazar Hamid released his first solo album, “Sabahak Rabah” (“Good Morning Home”) in 2007 but experienced increasing censorship in his home country. Songs dealing with social and political issues riding Sudan were especially scrutinized, and after severe censorship and verbal threats, Abazar chose exile and moved to Cairo in 2008.
In 2009 he established the project “democratizing music” in collaboration with other Sudanese and Egyptian musicians, as a forum to share resources rather than fighting each other. The project yielded several events and performances, and his song “Peace to Darfur” which had previously been censored in Sudan, was included and released as part of the “Listen to the Banned” CD. The CD was released by Grappa and Freemuse on Music Freedom Day 3 March 2009, a yearly global event initiated by Freemuse aimed at supporting “persecuted, prosecuted and imprisoned musicians, many of whose only crime has been that they have spoken up against authorities and insisted on the right to express themselves through their music”. The organizers of Music Freedom day add that the day also offers the opportunity to “highlight the role and impact of music in our societies”.
ICORN’s General Assembly decided in May 2014 to broaden the scope of the ICORN network to also offer a safe haven to persecuted artists within other art forms such as the visual arts and music. The City of Harstad declared itself a Safe Music Haven in February 2013, and joined the ICORN network 2 July 2014. Said Marianne Bremnes, Mayor of Harstad, at the time: “Our hope is that we can welcome the first guest musician as soon as possible. We are eager to go ahead, because out there is a man and his family waiting to get to a safe haven in Harstad. We will facilitate for him to work and live together with his family without threats and persecution. This will also mean a lot for the cultural life in Harstad”.
On 10 December 2014, their work paid off, with the arrival of Abazar Hamid and his family as the city’s first guest musician.
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