In the Afghanistan of the Taliban, listening to or playing music is considered a sin. The Afghanistan National Institute of Music has been closed since the hardline Islamists returned to power in Kabul in August 2021. The students and teachers of the school fled the country and found refuge in Portugal. Despite the difficulties of exile, they hope to revive their school and thus preserve the Afghan musical heritage.
On Procida, an island near Italy's southern port city of Naples, a musical ensemble has been created made up of migrants from seven nations on three continents. A free concert will be held in the Marina Grande square on November 26.
Abdul, whose stage name is Maestros, talks about his redemption after a series of atrocities in Africa. He fled violence and poverty in Nigeria and he escaped again from Libya. Then he reached Italy on a boat, where -- he recounts -- "I saw children taken away from their mothers and thrown into the sea to ease the ship's weight."
The Italian rapper of Tunisian origin, known as Ghali, has launched a fundraiser for the Mare Jonio ship operated by Mediterranea Saving Humans.
UNHCR has launched a music campaign on social media giant TikTok to promote solidarity with refugees. The initiative is aimed at raising funds and drawing attention to the tens of millions of displaced people around the world.
Chris Obehi is a young Nigerian musician, singer and songwriter. After migrating from Warri, in Nigeria to Palermo, in Sicily, he began busking and mixing sounds from Nigeria with songs from his adopted culture in Sicily. The result is an award-winning new album: Obehi.