RSS feedPosts Tagged ‘freemuse award’
Egyptian protest singer Ramy Essam wins 2011 Freemuse Award
Posted on November 28th, 2011 in Songlines Blog by Alexandra Petropoulos.
Today, the world watches as Egypt holds its first elections since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak this spring. News reports have once again flared with stories of protests and gatherings in the famous Tahrir Square.
So it only seems appropriate then that Egyptian protest singer Ramy Essam was awarded the Freemuse Award last week.
Several months back, the Songlines team watched with bated breath as the movement famously referred to as the ‘Arab Spring’ unfolded and musicians were caught up in uncertainty. We were sadden to learn about musicians who, like Essam, were arrested – or worse – during the revolution. But to see these same artists win recognition for their political activism offers hope that there is a change coming and that these courageous musicians will not be left forgotten.
Essam was presented with the award last Monday (November 21) at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. The award award is sponsored by the Björn Afzelius International Culture Foundation (BAIK) and honours musicians with a political voice. Essam had also just received the Freedom to Create Prize the day before in South Africa.
While onstage in Stockholm, Essam commented, “My dream is to spread the voice of Egypt all over the world. Thank you for helping me in that.” He then went on to say “My presence here [in Sweden] doesn’t mean that I have forgotten what is happening in Egypt. We have understood that the Egyptian revolution is not finished yet. The 18 days [at Tahrir Square in February 2011] were just the beginning. We will stay protesting in the streets until freedom, democracy and social equality has been approved. I am looking forward to getting back there, so I can be with them.”
Freemuse Award 2010 winners announced
Posted on March 22nd, 2010 in World Music by Songlines.
Iranian singer Mahsa Vahdat and Turkish-Kurdish singer and activist Ferhat Tunç have jointly won the 2010 Freemuse Award. They will receive the award at a ceremony in London on March 25.
Freemuse – the independent international organisation advocating freedom of expression for musicians and composers – recognised the singers for their strong defence of freedom of musical expression.
The Award Committee on Mahsa Vahdat:
“Mahsa Vahdat continues to resist all pressures that the conservative sectors of Iranian society put on woman musicians. Despite such pressures Iran has a remarkably vibrant music scene that ridicules the clichés that are often written about the country, and Mahsa is a fabulous example of this. Last year, she recorded an album with Mighty Sam McClain, an artist from the ‘enemy nation’ – the US. Her courage and bold resistance in continuing to follow her artistic muse makes her an ideal laureate.”
The Award Committee on Ferhat Tunç:
“For almost three decades Ferhat Tunç has insisted on exercising his right to perform his music in spite of several court cases and other threats against him. He has continued to sing songs in the minority language Zaza (Dimli) and in Kurmanci (Kurdish) as well as in Turkish. He has refused in a firm way to succumb to all the intimidations, but without expressing any hatred against his perpetrators. Ferhat has actively propagated the strengthening of human rights and democracy in Turkey.”
Both artists are featured on the new Freemuse CD Listen to the Banned.
