The Aleppo Electronic Artists Using Music To Heal In Gaziantep
Gaziantep, Türkiye. As Amr Helwani's fingers move up and down the knobs of the DJ mixer, colored neon lights and white smoke flood the garden terrace of the former Ottoman house where he installs his console.
The 33-year-old techno DJ was spotted at a tepid party in late January in Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, just across the Syrian border. Amr has been in the city since 2013. He, like many other dancers, fled the Syrian war from Aleppo, two hours away.
“We broke the sound barrier tonight,” Amar joked in a black T-shirt, referring to the blaring music. But no, we are actually trying to break down language and cultural barriers. Turks and Syrians... we have very similar traditions, but the language is different. Techno is not words, it's beats. It's easier to dance like that."
Amr is a regular DJ at Room41, a traveling electronic and techno club founded by a Syrian immigrant who has been entertaining the people of Gaziantep for years. It also provides an opportunity for Syrians to come together to dance and connect with like-minded people who are passionate about music.
But Amr didn't know that January 28 would be his last performance for a while. "I'll see you in two weeks!" He said how he closed the night at 3am.
Just over a week later, a massive earthquake struck southeast Turkey and northwest Syria, changing the lives of both Turks and Syrians forever. More than 50,000 people died. About 3,000 people have died in Gaziantep and thousands have been displaced. After weeks of continuous aftershocks, the loss and destruction of an entire city, the lights of Syria's techno nightlife have gone out, just like during the war.
“It's frightening how much it reminds us of war: the noise, the sadness, the displacement… But we promise the audience that the music will come back stronger than ever to revive us. A cafe in central Gaziantep that sells Room41 tickets. His home was not damaged, but he has temporarily moved west to the Mediterranean town of Mersey to avoid constant panic attacks.
Escape from cultural heritage
Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, some 3.7 million refugees have settled in Turkey. Most of them now live along its southeastern border, geographically and culturally closer to their homeland.
From the majestic 19th-century Ottoman domes and black-and-white-striped horseshoe arches, to the imposing tower in central Gaziantep, partially destroyed in an earthquake, and the narrow cobbled streets lined with blacksmith shops and restaurants that smell of food. city before the war The images of Aleppo are not inferior to the Syrian ones.
Today the city, a crossroads of Turkish, Kurdish and Arab cultures, is home to more than half a million Syrians. While Syria's presence has caused some conflicts for more than a decade, it has also changed the social and urban landscape of Gaziantep.
Syrian shops, as well as restaurants and cafés offering traditional live music, abound in the main streets of the city centre. Most of them were reopened with minor damage from the February earthquakes.
"Our cultural heritage was definitely part of our main baggage among the few things we took with us when we left the conflict," said Rami Magherbeh from Aleppo. He is the founder of Duzan Art and Culture, a Gaziantep-based organization dedicated to the conservation of Syrian art in exile.
"It also increases the potential for new artistic expressions, such as electronic music, which our young people began to discover even before the war," said the 38-year-old woman, her gray hair pulled back into a ponytail. . He spoke from the terrace of Duzan, a magnificent and well-preserved Ottoman house in the Armenian quarter of Gaziantep.
Thanks to the efforts of cultural organizations and individuals, Aleppo's nightlife has moved about 100 kilometers across the border. In a once sleepy city, Syrian DJs and electronic music aficionados created a forgotten atmosphere on the stage they had left behind.
focus on the present
When war broke out, secret grievances and secret parties started flaring up in Aleppo, says Batul Mohammad, a charismatic electronic music producer based in Gaziantep and Istanbul.
Just when our generation was ready to show its potential, it suddenly stopped growing,” said the low voice of a 36-year-old man. “I was a listener at those parties and suddenly I brought these lectures to Gaziantep and realized that there is no nightlife there. It's one of the things I miss most about my home."
Hailing from the Syrian city of Homs, she loved what Aleppo had to offer when she could afford to visit on weekends, from talk shows to rock concerts. It was the burgeoning cultural environment that inspired him to work in the performing arts.
In 2013, at the age of 25, she crossed the border into Turkey alone. His parents, although they wanted him to stay, supported his decision to follow his dream. He found an apartment in Gaziantep and, after deciding to pursue music, spent an average of seven hours a day learning how to use music mixing software and watching videos to learn DJ sets.
“Focusing on such demanding tasks has helped me focus on the present rather than obsessing over the past,” Batul says, referring to the pain of leaving her family to go to a place where she often felt unwanted and alone, exposed to verbal abuse. Because they are Syrians.
For seven years, he worked odd jobs and uploaded his music to the SoundCloud platform. For a year, she struggled to find a community of like-minded artists until 2020, when Room41 founder Nashwan Jamali found her via Instagram and invited her to perform at one of his events.
Aleppo 2.0: the rebirth of nightlife in Syria
When the war broke out, Nashwan was studying business administration at Aleppo University and was just starting to organize music events. Early in the war, he was beaten and imprisoned by the Syrian police for taking part in anti-government protests.
In 2012, Nashwan was found hiding in underground bunkers that were once used as bunkers to protect against airstrikes.
“Here I learned how to handle holiday emergencies [like fires and earthquakes], like the evacuation of many people during a night air raid,” he says with a smile.
A year later, in search of a better future, he crossed the border with his older brother, while his parents and older sister remained in Aleppo. Over time, police raids, airstrikes, and memories of his illegal entry into Turkey, where he and his brother were killed by Syrian Border Police when they were frightened, eclipsed memories of home. His generation started thinking about creating a place where Syrians could gather, have fun and remember a better past.
One night in 2016, while sitting in about 41 degrees Celsius (106F) in a Turkish hammam, the 32-year-old entrepreneur hit upon the idea of opening an electronic music club, a venue he would change for every holiday.
Electronic artists such as Hello Psychalepo and Boshoko, both from Aleppo, were gaining popularity in Europe. But Nashwan thought it made sense to try to revive Syrian nightlife in Gaziantep, which shares many similarities with his native Aleppo in terms of food, religion and history, to help Syrians adjust better.
“Gaziantep and Aleppo are very similar in terms of people and culture, so it was the perfect place to revive our long-lost nightlife,” Nashwan explains, sipping coffee in Sakulata and donning a casual tee. And Snickers, just before the meeting to organize the next Room41 event.
“Most of us want to stay and not go back to Syria; it was clear that we had to unite,” he said. "And music is often the means of victory."
Nashwan initially thought that if the club traveled it would be special, but decided that traveling to different areas could undermine the idea of Syrians sticking together and promoting integration.
The concept was new and Syrians face a lot of paperwork when starting a business, which is why it took Naswan Room41 about a year to register. Initially, attendance was low due to a lack of proper opening party promotion pending registration. Drug dealers also tried to infiltrate the parties. So Naswan hired security personnel and moved the project forward. “We knew we were doing something for the community by filling a void,” Naswan reflects.
Today Naswan employs 19 Syrians and Turks. Ticket prices for Hall 41 are affordable compared to similar parties in major cities like the capital Istanbul or Izmir on the Aegean coast, and an average of 300 people attend the Saturday night events twice a month. In its six years as a party planner, Room 41 has provided a platform for many up and coming Syrian DJs.
traumatic process
Amr, Room41's resident DJ for the past three years, is one such artist.
Like Nashwan, he was arrested and beaten for participating in anti-government protests in Aleppo. Amr entered Turkey illegally in 2013 out of fear of detention or disappearance. His family was left behind. Though she had a bond with them and missed them, she couldn't see them after they were gone.
Growing up in Aleppo, Amr was an avid rock and metal performer. When he arrived in Turkey, he longed for live music in addition to the old folk songs that were played in cafes.
During the day, Amr, an aid worker, learned to mix and create music to take his mind off the Aleppo airstrikes and focus on something other than spending time with his family. “The beginning was fun, but I felt like I had to show people what I was doing,” Amr explained as he recorded the tapes at a January party.
"Making music, listening to it and sharing it with others that gives you feedback clears your mind and allows you to focus on creating something for others," says Amr. It's the healthiest move I've ever had.
In his music he mixes the sounds of Arab traditional music like lute, stringed instrument or Syrian folk songs like Ayni Tofiya song with many western songs that he finds in noisy YouTube videos of Berlin dreaming of playing somewhere. . day. He says it is extremely difficult for a Syrian to get a tourist visa to attend one of these events.
The goal is to look to the past and create a sort of Syrian voice for the future. "I like to mix the oriental sounds of our tradition with a lot of western rhythms," he reflects. "I think it will bring something new."
Keep the memory alive.
Organizations such as Duzan have made efforts to encourage this cultural expression. At the end of 2022, Duzanu Rami Nota (Arabic for "music note") launched a three-month program with seven young Syrian artists.
"Electronic music is very new in our region, but it's very appealing to our young people," Rami said. "They were very young when they left Syria and were losing touch with their roots, so we wanted to combine that with the opportunity to learn more about their history and music."
Artists are provided by DJs such as Hello Psychalepon from Amsterdam. They gave master classes in folk music, learned to combine traditional and modern themes, and released a joint album.
“This is a way to show that we are not stuck in the past, that we are proud of our traditions, but that we can express ourselves in a modern way,” Rami said.
"Before the city fell into decay, our generation had a bright future," said Naswan.
Judy Al-Ahmed, aid worker and active member of Room41, gets emotional when she hears songs from Aleppo, Arab and Syrian folk songs, or songs by famous Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum or Lebanese vocalist Fairuz performed by her parents. As a child, I played games mixed with electronic sounds. "Suddenly I saw part of Syria," said the 30-year-old.
Even the locations for Room 41 - Ottoman-style houses in Aleppo and Gaziantep that belong to the same empire, or underground garages hosting secret parties in Syria - were chosen to evoke memories of the house and help guests bond over pleasure. time, according to Nashwan.
Amr says he often feels like he's doing more than just scratching and mixing. "At the end of the evening, people came up to the console to thank me for reminding them of happy memories of Syria," he said. “Then you think you have done something good for others. It makes you interested in your music, it makes it more meaningful, especially after what happened to the Syrians who were displaced for the second time in a decade after the earthquake.
Flashing
Life in Gaziantep came to a halt when the ground shook in early February.
“The images we saw walking the streets of Gaziantep in the days following the earthquake were similar to the images we saw every day walking through the ruins of war,” Judy says.
Nashwan had a similar memory when the first quake hit: he thought about it for a moment, then he went back to Syria and there was an airstrike. "It took me a full minute to realize this was a different kind of crash," he said.
His family was safe in Aleppo. Both the family home and the Gaziantep home had cracks, but they weren't badly damaged. For several days, she slept in a temporary shelter to be with other people until her PTSD subsided. The shock of the incident reminded him of the stress he experienced during the conflict at home.
Many of Room41's previous twelve locations are unavailable or secure to accommodate hundreds of people. Old Ottoman houses, in particular, are excluded from the equation for safety reasons, at least as long as they are not resistant to earthquakes. One of its most famous sights, Bayazan, is a dilapidated roofless building with a restaurant and museum in the city center. The Lebowski Blues live music venue, Room 41's summer hangout, has become a refuge for displaced people after the earthquake.
“After a period of mourning,” Nashwan said, “the Room41 staff decided it was time to throw a party to test the waters. “Our return was our strong response and offering of peace to our wounded community,” he said.
Judy is one of many displaced people from the city. His home has been damaged, but luckily he can afford a temporary apartment, unlike the thousands who live in tent cities in parks and underground shelters across the city.
His family, still in Aleppo, is safe. The natural disaster reminded him of war, but now that people have suffered the same destruction and displacement, he thinks this disaster will bring Gaziantep and Aleppo closer together.
"I didn't go to the first party after the earthquake, even though I wanted to and wanted to, after so much pain," Judy reflected. But I was busy with more important things, like trying to get my house in order.
Amr believes that the holidays, when they are back in operation, can relieve post-earthquake stress and help people understand that "everything will go back to normal".
After studying damage control, he said, "In warfare, we use the same skills to light up a city."
Fighting stereotypes, correcting gaps
For Batul, one of the core values of Room41 and the music it creates is to show that Syrian refugees are providing something that locals can benefit from. “In countries where large numbers of Syrians come from, there is a perception that we are poor and have only come to steal jobs or destroy them. But we have personalities, dreams and needs. We are not just a number,” he explained.
Today she is the only Syrian female DJ in Türkiye. She performs under the name Umm El-Bit, after the great Arab singers, which means "mother" in Arabic. His themes are known for the rhythms emanating from the darbuqa - a typical Arab drum-like instrument reminiscent of his childhood in Syria - and the oud (ancestor of the lute) interspersed with electronic sounds.
She says she is grateful that she has finally found a safe place to perform her music in Gaziantep. Hope to see more women in this area.
"Because electronic music is often a man's world, being a woman or an immigrant in the field can be intimidating," she reflects. “At first people didn't take me seriously. But I really wanted to challenge the stereotype that women can't do this because we don't even know where to put the wires.
He said he wanted to "unite a large audience with his music, not just Syrians".
In Yanvare, when the techno-bites gave a conference in Osmansk Zdanii, Nashvan in the Solnechny slang in the news: « In the end, this video is very popular and popular with musicians and songwriters».
Bolshinstvo штатных сотрудников Room41 — гуманитарные работники, в основном из западных стран, сирийские беженцы и студен ты турецких университетов.
On the other hand, the Syrian region, where the Газиантеп was not very popular with the local culture ь вынудила турок и сирийцев жить в отдельных пузырях. Once in the 41st century, this place, came, rushed, over the moon, on every night. Люди танцуют и разговаривают, и есть ощущение открытости.
«Мы привносим идею преодоления культурного разрыва с помощью мероприятий, которые можно повторить где угодно в Ту рции», — сказал Насван.
«There is a lot of predubezhdeny in the various Syriacs, the first prime minister, the Dumaya, which is the first choice of Nasilia and the economic critic в нашу страну», — skazala Айсе Йылмаз, гуманитарный работник, regулярно посещающая эти мероприятия. Но я чувствую, что эти напряжения исчезают здесь. That's very popular, it's not a joke, it's the story of Gela.
До посещения этих мероприятий она не знала, что делать. В нем не проживает даже четверть жителей Сирии. Я счастлив встретить Джуди здесь. «On takie zhе, как мы, и хотят только войны. Они не придут, чтобы навредить нам;›› "அயான் அக்குக்க்கு காட்டு கார் கை அல்லை. அயை கு க்கு கைக்கு காரை அல்லை.
«Здорово встретить новых людей, которые не говорят с вами на одном языке или культуре, — говорит Джуди.
Газиантепская серия 41 между сирийскими и турецкими ди-джеями завершена. Amr теперь подключен к турецкому и сирийскому голосам.
«У меня появилось несколько турецких друзей. Может сейчас турецких друзей больше, чем сирийцев. «Electronnoe musikalnoe razvlechenie для тех, кто ищет новых людей, для тех, кто ищет новых людей, для тех, к то ищет новых людей, لمینائة إلى موسل».
За пределами Газиантепа
Room41 Room41 Room41 ሪዎ ችም ኢንደስትሪው በመቀላቀል በመቀላቀል የምሽ እን ረድተዋል።
ناشوان کوک 41ن کاکار کے کے کے کے کے کے کے ہے کے کے کے کے کے کے کے کی کی دہ کی کیمہ ہے В эти выходные будет проведено больше вечеринок, чтобы снова помочь решить турецкие выборы.
In this edinburgh, after a very quiet season, when the city was closed, the Ramadan was very popular, in the same place знь потихоньку ухудшается. Перед землетрясением к Комнате 41 присоединились люди, пришедшие из близлежащих штормов. Многие еще не вернулись.
Lku хочет расширить музыкальные предложения Room41: امتا امتا امتا تن العبو يمعلسول.
This problem, however, does not have a lack of taste, so that we need to control the rules, so that we can't slide on the floor ешествовать. . அத்து, கான்ருரு மாா, மெயுகு பிர்ரை பெர்ரை கர ்ரை
«Люди не могут говорить о Сирии или беспокоятся по этому поводу, но [записи Газиантепа] вернулись и дают хороши е новости», — говорит Нэшван Тейн.
