Awtar Nergal
Sat 13.7. at 17.00 Museum Hall, Radioessee Book Forum Mosul (YLE Ykkönen), live listening and discussion, remote access to Mosul
Sometimes the most interesting performer at a festival is not there. This will be the case this Saturday in Kaustinen, when a band from Mosul will be present remotely and through a radio programme. Awtar Nergal did not make it to the festival, despite his best efforts.
The Awtar Nergal band played its first public concert in Mosul after the city was liberated from ISIS in Iraq two years ago. Throughout the early summer, the band has been looking forward to playing at the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival.
The festival's organisers, for their part, have been worried about whether the band will be able to get their visas in time. The visas came through, but a last-minute scramble kept them at the airport in Iraq for a whole night. In the end, the departure via Turkey just didn't work out, and the disappointment was great.
Friday's show in Kaustinen had to be cancelled, but on Saturday the audience will listen to a radio essay about Awtar Nergal and a remote connection will be made to Mosul.
The power of music to repair the scars of war
In 2014, the music in Mosul fell silent for a moment. The mere possession of an instrument was enough for an execution. During the years of occupation, brave young people gathered in the ruins of the war-torn city. They played in secret because they needed music to survive.
- Hakam Zararee, Mohammed Ahmed, Mustafa Raad and Khalid Alrawi are young people whose lives have almost always been dominated by some kind of war in Iraq. When Mosul was retaken two years ago, the students chose the ruins of the destroyed central library as their first venue, with skeletons of books at their feet. There were still snipers in the city at the time," says Heta Kaisto, who organised Kaustinen's visit.
Kaisto is a member of the programme committee of the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival and has previously worked as a game manager.
Impossible ideas
- Kaustinen and Finland need to hear this story. But it is equally important to introduce the people of Kaustinen and how decades of experience are brought together here. To lift up and strengthen voices that are in danger of being lost, and to create faith and learning in music from the cradle up. Kaustinen opens up the world to incredible places. That's just the way it is.
Heta Kaisto is working on a PhD on war and destruction, on how war and destruction can be approached with words, images or sounds. She wants to explore how to think impossible thoughts.
- Music creates hope for the future as Mosul rebuilds after the occupation. The city has not had a tradition of accompanied music for decades. What happened in Mosul goes beyond human understanding, but the music speaks to everyone. The most important musical tradition is the human need for music, it unites everyone.
- The band's joie de vivre and positive attitude has made a big impression on me. The young people's studies and work were interrupted during the conquest. Now Hakam has a degree in medicine and is in the final stages of further studies. Mohammed is studying to become a lawyer and took his final exams this week before leaving for Turkey. Khalid is a self-taught musician, and teaches music. Mustafa is only 19.
With Radio Essene to Mosul
Journalist Riikka Aaltonen and photographer Janne Körkkö made a reporting trip to Mosul, and the interviews were used to create a documentary about a book café where Awtar Nergal also plays regularly.
The circle will close in Kaustinen on Saturday evening 13 July, when the radio essay Book Forum Mosul will be presented on Yle Ykkönen channel and the audience will gather with the authors to listen to it as a live premiere. The programme's producer Katariina Jumppanen will also be present.
There will also be a band, but remotely from Mosul, if at all possible..
In any case, the hearing will be accompanied by a discussion session. However, Mosul has an unstable electricity network and poor internet connections. The hope is to be able to spend a moment together in Kaustinen: with music, from Mosul.
Awtar Nergal's music is a fusion of oriental and western music. They have been learning to play secretly through YouTube videos since the occupation and destruction of Mosul city began (Photo: Awtar Nergal)