Artists in Exile | talk series

SUBJECT »Artists In Exile – Fearing The Power Of Music«

Music is a universal language that conveys messages, makes them heard and inspires, moves and brings people together. This effect is as much appreciated as it is feared. The fear of the attraction and power of music and the attempt to make music taboo, to ban and destroy it, runs like a thread through the history of mankind and forces many of its interpreters to flee even today.

This also applies to the Iranian fusion singer Azadeh, the Sudanese rapper Zeyo Mann, the Syrian singer Wizzy and the Ukrainian vocalist KEBU.

The two hosts, Pamela Owusu-Brenyah and Gianna Main, talk with their guests about their path to music, about the meaning of music and their everyday lives as musicians in their home countries, about the experience that profession and vocation forced them to flee, and about how they are faring in German exile.

SUBJECT »Musicians in Exile – Different Perspectives«

Artists are among refugee movements around the world: They flee war, violence and political persecution, often because they can no longer practise their art in their home countries. How are they faring in exile in Germany? The Nigerian DJ Jeff went to Ukraine three years ago and is the best-known Afropop DJ there. After the Russian war of aggression began, he fled to Germany. Although he had gig opportunities, he couldn’t get a work permit. Aeham Ahmad became known as the »pianist from the rubble« after a viral video showed him playing a piano and singing amidst destroyed houses in Damascus. In 2015, he came to Germany – where he plays concerts, records albums and has published his autobiography. Kiev-based and Minsk-born electronic musician, pianist and singer Odarka also talks about her experiences. Along with hosts Gianna Main and Pamela Owusu-Brenyah, these three musicians will talk about their different realities of life in exile, what has gone well and what badly, while also shedding light on the double standards of European asylum policy.