Stockholm’s Kulturhuset Stadsteatern hosts “A Night with Buddha”
On Friday 11th of March, the Stockholm theater Kulturhuset will host “A Night with Buddha,” an evening of dance, poetry, music and discussion in memory of the Buddha statues that were blown up by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. This commemorative festival has been organized by Zahra Hussaini, Stockholm’s newest ICORN artist in residence, and Hayat Ensafi for the past nine years. Since they were both forced to flee Afghanistan in the autumn of 2021, Hussaini and Ensafi have brought the festival to Stockholm.
Ensafi explains the impetus behind organizing this annual event: “The destruction of the Buddha statues was a shocking and cruel act that reminds us of the need to prevent similar acts.We want the importance of ancient heritage to be understood by the public, a sense of public responsibility for the preservation of these monuments to be promoted, and finally, respect for historical heritage to become a universal value which in turn promotes cultural diversity, tolerance, and empathy.”
The programme will focus around the importance of common cultural heritage with both Afghani and Swedish researchers, experts and artists participating. A panel discussion will delve into these questions, led by Kerstin Brunnberg, a journalist and former CEO of Swedish Radio, and in conversation with panelists Dr. Malek Sitiz, Maria Dahlström and Khazar Fatemi.
As the transformative power of art is at the root of this event, several Afghani artists who have relocated to Sweden will share their work. There will be poetry readings by Zia Qasmi, Afghan poet based in Uppsala, Sahar Mousa and Mizar Kemal, former and current ICORN artist residents in Stockholm. Joining them will be another ICORN artist in residence, Ali Thareb, a poet and performance artist from Iraq, currently residing in Jönköping. Finally, Mahboubeh Ebrahimi, a prominent Afghan poet living in Uppsala, will read his work, as well as sing.
A musical performance will also be offered by +93, a group of 12 Afghan young people from Stockholm led by the artistic director and former ICORN resident, Arya Aramnejad, who started the project in 2021.
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