“The Sounds of Hospitality”

To mark World Refugee Day (June 20) and European Music Day (June 21), Casa Árabe is presenting this documentary by Michel Gasco and Parisa Delshad about migrating musicians in Europe.

“This coffee is from Sweida, my husband’s city. Did you know that if you visit somebody’s house in Sweida, Syria, they will never let you leave without trying every type of food in their home?”
 
It is with these words that Linda Alahmad, from the kitchen inside her home in Madrid, begins this documentary, filmed by Michel Gasco and Parisa Delshad to introduce us to six musicians from Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Palestine, all of whom have managed to settle in cities of Holland, Great Britain and Spain. From these countries, they all continue their careers as musicians, open to new audiences but also to collaboration with other performers from very diverse cultural and musical backgrounds.
 
The journey on which this documentary takes us through several European cities allows us to meet Syrians Jawa Manla and Linda Alahmad, an oud player and singer, respectively who, following different paths, fled from their country at the same time because of the war; the Afghans Sulaiman Haqpana, a percussionist, and Ajmair Nikzad, a singer and harmonium player who have found an open-minded, tolerant environment in Great Britain; Nizar Rohana, of Palestinian origin and one of the today’s finest oud players, and Iranian Babak Kamgar, who tells us from Madrid about how he learned to play the tar, an instrument so characteristic of Persian music.