SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
Palestinian resistance songs
TOMASZ PIERSCIONEK marvels at the place of music in Palestinian culture as a source of inspiration and strength
PAUL FOLEY recommends an extraordinary double bill that packs a punch and leaves you reeling
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a play about AI that results in a deadening disconnect for its audience
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
MATTHEW HAWKINS pays tribute to the performance artist and costumier, Leigh Bowery
SIMON DUFF reviews a new composition by German composer and pianist Florian Weber that blurs the line between where improvisation ends and composition begins
New releases from The Jim Mullen Quartet, Caroline Kraabel/John Edwards, and Matthew Muneses/Riza Printup
Palestinian Music in Exile: Voices of Resistance
Louis Brehony, American University in Cairo, £49.95
MUSICIAN, activist and prominent scholar of Palestinian music, Louis Brehony performs a deep dive into the origins and significance of 20th century post-Nakba melodies while exploring how longstanding traditions, as well as decades of occupation and exile, have shaped the development of various genres of Palestinian music.
Brehony further explores how music has served as a medium for preserving Palestinian culture under the yoke of Israeli oppression, while also serving as a powerful form of non-violent resistance to occupation and keeping alive the hope that Palestine will one day shake off the chains in which it has been bound for decades.
Brehony interviews numerous musicians of Palestinian origin, such as Reem Kelani and Ahmad al-Khatib, who have found varying degrees of fame, to learn how their childhood experiences or diasporan existence in adulthood drew them to music and led them to create their own performance styles.
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