Music for peace

Abazar A. Bagi Hamid arrived in Harstad on 10 December 2014 as the northern city’s first ICORN musician-in-residence after 6 years of turbulent exile in Egypt. He has since been touring Norway and Europe with his music, promoting the work for peace in his country as well as participating in integration of migrants to Norway and Europe. On 14-15 June, he will take part in the Structured Dialogue on the role of culture in promoting the inclusion of refugees and migrants in the European Commission. 

When Abazar stayed for two weeks in Barcelona City of Refuge in February, as artist in residence at the Jiwar International Residence BCN, on the invitation of Catalan PEN, he met with British journalist Christopher Finnegan. The meeting resulted in the article This Exiled Musician is Reclaiming the Sounds of War-Torn Darfur—In the Arctic Circle. About Hamid’s work in Sudan; his escape to Egypt, where he played with the underground music scene and worked as a music teacher with African and Middle Eastern refugees in camps; and his leap to the north of Norway.

Read the whole article at Narrative.ly.