The Al Ain Centre for Music in the World of ...

Al Ain | 22/06/2010

Within its busy cultural program, the Al Ain Centre for Music in the World of Islam, part of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), is organising a symposium entitled "The Role of Women in the Transmission of Musical Heritage in the Islamic World" at the beginning of July. It will be held in the city of Al Ain and will enjoy the participation of researchers and specialists in music from different countries. It will highlight the essential role that women have played in the transfer of heritage, with examples from the UAE, Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Senegal.

The conference will be followed by a concert that demonstrates how classical music in Uzbekistan was passed along from generation to generation. .
One of the most famous singers of classical music, Zamira Suyunova, will present her student Mahfuza Karimova, who is also a renowned singer in Uzbekistan. They will both then present their mutual student, promising young voice Klara Turaeva, to the public.

Included in the list of participants in the symposium are: Mrs Najwa Adra, PhD, anthropologist and educator (Ḥādī, Dar‘ and Ghinā’: Women’s Songs in Yemen’s Northern Highlands); Mrs Shaikha Mohamed Al Jabri, Emirati Researcher (Children’s Songs in the Emirates); Mrs Julia Banzi, PhD, ethnomusicologist at the Department of Music, Lewis & Clark College (Women Andalusian Musicians: The Legacy); Mrs Iroda Dadadjanova, PhD, ethnomusicologist, National University of Uzbekistan (Women Musicians Today : A Personal View from Uzbekistan); Ms Veronica Doubleday, ethnomusicologist and author, University of Brighton (Female Lullaby Singing in Afghanistan); Dr Hanan Kassab Hassan, General Director of the Opera of Damascus (The Role of Women in the Transmission of Musical Heritage in Syria); Mrs Tooka Maleki, researcher in Art in Teheran (Iranian women, the oral narrators of musical heritage); Dr Anna Oldfield, ethnomusicologist, Department of Comparative Literature Hamilton College (Women and Musical Transmission in Cultures under Siege: The Case of Azerbaijan, with Notes on Bosnia); Mrs Luciana Penna-Diaw, PhD, ethnomusicologist, educational coordinator, in charge of oral music tradition at Cité de la Musique, Paris (The vocal repertoires of cherries: Wolof of Senegal); Mrs Arwa Othman, Director of the House of Folklore, Sanaa (Voices of Sorrow, Voices of Women on Swings: Haj Traditions in Sanaa).

ADACH announced the launch of the Al Ain Centre for Music in the World of Islam last October, as a part of organising an international conference entitled, "Why Safeguard our Musical Heritage for the Future?" This conference is due to be officially launched within two years in accordance with the implementation of ADACH's 2008-2012 strategic plan.
HE Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Director-General of ADACH, said that the Centre was established as a result of the efforts of ADACH. Their goal was to help society reach a better level of cultural understanding and improve the tastes of the UAE and Muslim and Arab cultures, at both local and global levels.

The establishment of the Centre is part of a series of important cultural projects initiated by ADACH in the city of Al Ain. These projects have been implemented since the revival of the Jahili Fort on December 2008 on the UAE National day, to underscore the necessity of the preservation of culture and the protection of deeply-rooted heritage. These events are all held in line with ADACH's strategy to safeguard the cultural heritage of Abu Dhabi.

Amongst the Centre’s main activities is the support that is given to the adoption of research in music. The Centre will hold programs in its field of specialisation and will document and archive music and instruments related to this subject. The Centre aims to disseminate knowledge and perform further research on the development of important communication activities that raise the appreciation of music on a local and global level.

More info: http://www.adach.ae