Abstract
Musicians around the world are I refusing to perform their final encores, writes
MUSIC HAS BEEN described as a “cultural universal” - a practice found in all known human cultures and societies. While anthropologists still scratch their heads over exactly where the concept originated, evidence indicates that humans have used musical instruments for an astonishing 40,000 years. During an excavation in 1995 in Slovenia, researchers discovered a bear’s femur bone with holes in it and concluded that it could be an ancient flute.
Humans have always found ingenious ways to make music, and it’s not difficult to see why. It is one of the most powerful forms of self-expression, capable of eliciting both intense happiness and sadness in the listener. It is used to celebrate, lament, respect and enrage, and its endless genres, styles and instruments form a core part of countries’ unique cultural heritages.
But despite its universality, music is being silenced globally. Religious extremism, political factions, racism and nationalism are all driving forces, stopping it being performed, produced and listened to. In this issue we explore how music bans have been weaponised to silence communities and erase histories.
I investigate how, in Afghanistan, musicians have been forced into exile or hiding. The Taliban’s “vice and virtue” laws stipulate that consuming music amounts to “moral corruption”. They have publicly burnt instruments to demonstrate this ideology, including the national instrument, the rubab. Scholars say this amounts to cultural genocide.
But musicians are standing up to their oppressors. Exiled singer Elaha Soroor told me that she writes songs in solidarity with Afghan women who have been stripped of their human rights, including their voices. Assistant editor Katie Dancey-Downs also interviews Iranian singer Golazin Ardestani on how music can be a formidable tool to use against restrictive regimes.
The Ugandan opposition leader, activist and singer Bobi Wine tells Danson Kahyana how he has circumvented the government’s bans by hosting concerts in his own home and sharing his music online. “While autocratic regimes use censorship to silence critical voices, sometimes it is that censorship that amplifies our voices,” he said.
The Western world is not exempt from musical censorship. As Malu Halasa reports, Black women’s voices have been locked out of the US rock movement and typecast into soul and jazz instead. She interviews Felice Rosser, lead singer of FaithNYC, about how she’s made her way in a white, male-dominated industry. And on our own shores, editorial assistant Mackenzie Argent explores how drill music is being criminalised by the police, as if the artform itself were an offence.
Elsewhere in this issue, we explore how a new law in Iraq could make journalists’ lives harder; the historical censorship of books in Vietnam; and whether Donald Trump’s re-election could turn the USA into a “hybrid democracy”. We’re also excited to publish a series of artworks created by Russian prisoners who oppose the war in Ukraine, and a moving piece by Israeli journalist Dimi Reider on a year of tragedy in Gaza.
Music may not be as essential to life as water, food or safe shelter - but it is at the core of human existence, and has been for millennia. It is a fundamental but also joyful element of free speech. We must defend it - because without it, the world would be muted. ✘
Whistle in the dark
Our cover artist
TATIANA ZELENSKAYA WAS born and grew up in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan and studied art at the National Academy of Arts of the Kyrgyz Republic. In March 2020, she was arrested for taking part in a women’s rights protest and in 2021, she won the Arts category in the Index Freedom of Expression Awards.
She is currently working on an animation project, exploring the subjective experience of fear and repression. In our cover illustration, she visualises the dual forces of oppression and defiance. Zelenskaya continues to work on other projects as a freelance artist, including animations, illustrations and posters.
You can see more of Tatiana’s work at instagram.com/ tatyanazelenskaia
FRONT COVER CREDIT: Tatiana Zelenskaya
