Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Transformation
By Simon Hewitt Jones, Violinist, leader of Fifth Quadrant (British music collective - performers of
classical and contemporary music)
One day, a musician walked into a refugee camp in the West Bank,
and saw a group of children huddling in a circle.
As he approached, he realised they were drawing on the ground.
From a distance, the images looked like those of a typical child.
They were scrawled in brightly coloured chalk lumpy, crude
shapes drawn with real innocence.
Then, closer, he saw more clearly what the children were drawing: a
picture of a gun, a dead soldier in a pool of blood, a man being
taken away by the army. One image in particular stood out: a man
being shot with a gun, and a child being dragged off in another
direction.
Whose picture is this? asked the musician.
Mine, said a seven year old boy. That is my father.
The musicians interpreter took him aside. She said: His family
were killed last week. They came to his house in the night, and.
Her voice trailed off.
After spending some time with the children, talking and playing
games, the musician got out his viola and started to play some
Bach. The children listened intently, enthralled by the music.
The musician, moved by what he had experienced, felt a strong
impulse to return to the camp. Two days later, he came back to see
the children. Again, he found them drawing.
This time, however, the subject of the drawings was quite different.
They had the same chalky roughness rudimentary, unadorned
aspire to, dream of, and do. Practical ideas that are simple and
achievable.
After our first trip to Palestine in 2007 for a concert, we were
inspired to create similar experiences for Palestinian audiences. We
met several extraordinary local musicians who were regularly
bringing inspirational performances to people who desperately
needed relief from the struggle of day to day life in the Occupied
Territories. We resolved to help them in their mission.
In 2011, Fifth Quadrant launched an ambitious project called Road
to Jericho. Initially, we were aiming for a straightforward cultural
exchange. We would perform a concert tour in the UK and in
Palestine, featuring music from both cultures.
We also commissioned a new piece of music from a composer who
would unite elements of Eastern and Western music in one single
piece of music. We filmed and recorded the creative process of
Palestinian, British and American musicians coming together to
realise a shared mission, so that we could bring viewers (and
ourselves) closer to understanding the perspectives of both
cultures, rather than just our own.
First and foremost, this was an artistic project. We were performing
music for its own sake, not to achieve some external goal. We were
extremely careful to ensure that there was no political or religious
agenda to the project.
That said, it would be disingenuous to pretend that our
performances would have no effect beyond their artistic impact. We
didnt actively have any non-musical goals, but nonetheless we
anticipated that our project would expose both performers and
audiences to greater awareness of the political and social situation.
This would be likely to lead towards greater understanding and
greater empathy. Opinions could therefore change as a result of our
work. For us, if this happened in a positive way, it would be a bonus
to our main artistic mission.
Communication Possibilities: Challenging Preconceptions
the groove of a new piece of music. Or the flow of energy that two
musicians, playing together for the first time, can experience when
they truly focus on listening to each other as they perform together.
These are the compelling moments of performance that speak to
any audience, regardless of their culture. A moving performance is
a moving performance even if you have no idea how it is being
created.
Empathy: Changing Preconceptions
Music and culture challenges peoples perspectives by opening
their eyes to a world they never knew existed. But it is empathy that
changes those preconceptions into a different way of seeing things.
In the UK, we worked extensively with the Aldeburgh Young
Musicians (AYMs): a group of highly talented young musicians
under the age of 18, who were selected for their potential as
performers and composers, and for their creativity. It was
fascinating to see how their responses developed, initially by getting
to know the Palestinian music on a technical level, and seeing how
the different elements of the music fitted together.
The second step was to introduce them to the Palestinian
musicians who were visiting the UK. By meeting, getting to know,
and improvising with the musicians and their music, the AYMs were
beginning to interact with the culture, and it was becoming
increasingly familiar to them.
Finally, we introduced them to their Palestinian counterparts.
Through an online video conference, suddenly the British musicians
were seeing and interacting with people of their own age, learning
the same things in the same way at a school just like theirs. This
created an empathy deeper than any theoretical study could
provide.
Once the AYMs had combined empathy with cultural understanding,
a ripple effect began. The children told their friends and families,
word spread, and by the time we were giving concerts in London
and the UK, we were being approached by members of the public
(in email and in person) saying how revealing they had found the
project, and how it had changed how they thought about Palestinian
culture.
Most of all, we noted how many people were positively motivated by
the project. I didnt realise there was such an amazing culture over
there! was one of the most frequent comments. On several
occasions, this was followed by: So, how can we help?.
Putting Creativity at the Heart of Education
Leading education experts such as Sir Ken Robinson, the British
author whose talks on creative education at TED.com have become
a worldwide phenomenon, consistently argue that creativity should
be at the forefront of education systems worldwide. The reasoning?
To prepare young people for a completely unpredictable world, the
ability to think creatively should rank alongside numeracy and
literacy as a skill of the utmost importance.
In a conflict zone, this is more important than ever.
The Arts - music, dance, drama and visual art - are key drivers of
creativity. For the youngest generation, they are among the most
important means through which key creative skills are acquired.
Learning transferable skills, for example creative problem-solving,
or interpersonal and team skills, is critically important for children
who may grow up to operate in trade or commerce, or in
governmental or NGO environments. There are few better and safer
arenas for developing such qualities than in an orchestra or small
musical group.
When you look at a region such as Gaza, this is really brought into
perspective. The extreme population growth from around 500,000 in
1980 to over 1.6 million in 2011 is shocking, but its a trend that is
set to continue. Deep creativity and empathy are qualities that
young people will need in copious quantities, even just to attempt to
find solutions to these problems.
that led towards the tipping point where everything changed had
not been immediately obvious through the media reports.
But look back at how the cultural energy of the time underpinned
moments of change, for example when conductor Kurt Masur
intervened in the student rallies of 1989 Leipzig. At such moments,
individuals need to be inspired to delve deep into their creativity; to
reach beyond what is familiar, and what they know to be safe.
Arts initiatives are often only a small part of a sophisticated and
complex society, but their significance in influencing the culture of
how people interact within that society is immense.
Music also provides deep emotional solace by encapsulating
historic moments in time. Mstislav Rostropovichs impromptu
performances of Bach at the Berlin Wall, and the uplifting
performance of Beethovens Ninth Symphony in Berlin a few
months later, featuring performers of many nationalities led by
conductor Leonard Bernstein, live long in the collective
consciousness. They define the character of an era.
And you dont need a big moment in history to experience the
transformative effect of music. An important instance of personal
revelation can be just as uplifting. Ill leave you with one final story an experience of my own - that demonstrates the power of music:
When I first visited Palestine, I hadnt really grasped the intensity of
the effect that a cultural event can have in a conflict zone. I had
been booked to play some concerts by a British group that was
visiting the area. For me, it was initially just a concert tour, albeit to
a slightly more adventurous destination than usual. We performed
Mozarts Requiem at the Cultural Palace in Ramallah, and although
it was a good performance, it didnt seem especially unique or
different - at least, not to me.
But after this particular concert, a man came up to me and grabbed
me tightly by the arm. He was impassioned by what he had just
heard. His words have remained with me since that day as a
reminder of how powerful a musical experience can be:
Thank you thank you for giving me the last two hours of my life
back Its the first time for months that I havent been worrying
about the wall, politics, or the dangers my family face each day. It
gives me strength to go on. I cannot thank you enough.
http://www.roadtojericho.com/