A Circus School for Refugee Children

At this circus school in a refugee camp, kids are learning to juggle, jump and forget their troubles.

Syrian kids turning trash into art in Lebanon

At this circus school in a refugee camp, kids are learning to juggle, jump and forget their troubles.

Fighting the Taliban with music

Playing instruments was banned during the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan but now the country’s first female orchestra is fighting the taboo and preparing to make its international debut. Full story here: http://reut.rs/22IyCUK

The Shawshank Redemption

"Andy: It was in here...  That’s the beauty of music. They can’t take that away from you." 

Artist Morehshin Allahyari: Collaborative art in countries of conflict

Art activist Morehshin Allahyari teams artists from the US and Iran in a creative exchange designed to build bridges between the countries. She urges us to take action and think about how we can use our own talents to extend what collaboration can look like.
See complete bio and all TEDxDU Talks at www.tedxdu.com.

Artist Morehshin Allahyari is using 3D printers to save artifacts destroyed by ISIS

3D printing is saving art from ISIS
One artist is using 3D printers to save artifacts destroyed by ISIS
Posted by NowThis on Thursday, 31 March 2016

A German orchestra performs music with Jordanian students and young Syrian refugees

German Orchestra Performs with Refugees
An orchestra performs music with Jordanian students and young Syrian refugees — and it's pretty adorable.
Posted by AJ+ on Wednesday, 30 March 2016

Art as Resistance in War

Jafar Meray wants images to bring hope (Homs, Syria - 2016)

Artist wants images to bring healing and hope to #Syria.

Posted by CCTV on Sunday, 13 March 2016

Syrian photographer Jafar Meray captured the photos “to show that life is stronger than death”, that 'Love is stronger than war'. Moving pictures show Syrian bride marrying soldier posing in the ravaged city of Homs - as Russia reveals it has hit at least 400 targets in the country in just two days... 

Drone footage over Homs
After years of war, parts of Homs, Syria, are crumbling and deserted. New drone footage shows the extent of the devastation.
Posted by Channel 4 News on Tuesday, 2 February 2016

Pianist plays John Lennon's Imagine outside Bataclan concert hall after Terror attacks (Paris, France - 2015)

Pianist plays John Lennon's Imagine outside Bataclan concert hall, the day after more than 127 people were slaughtered during the Paris terror attacks. An unnamed man plays John Lennon's Imagine on a grand piano outside the Bataclan in tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks.
Posted by The Guardian on Saturday, 14 November 2015. The pianist attracted huge media attention as he performed a jazzy version of the late Beatle's classic ballad.

Ayham al-Ahmad, the pianist of Yarmouk (Damascus, Syria - 2015)

Amid the ruins of the destroyed Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus, pianist Ayham al-Ahmad provided a rare glimmer of hope amid the devastation. Videos of him defiantly playing piano in the ruined streets of Yarmouk, accompanied by children and other residents of the camp, were widely shared online as a symbol of the camp's spirit of resistance. More HERE.

Karim Wasfi, the cellist of Baghdad (Iraq - 2015)

Karim Wasfi, conductor of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, had decided to play amid the wreckage to drive home a message.

Iraqis needed to experience beauty, not just endure one bomb after another.

“It’s about reaching out to people exactly where someone had experienced something so grotesque and ugly earlier,” Wasfi said in an interview. “The spot where people lost their lives, the spot where people were still trying to stay alive, trying to function.” More HERE.

 

Vedran Smailovic, the cellist of Sarajevo (w. Joan Baez, 1992) 

On May 27, 1992 news spread throughout central Sarajevo that a bakery had received a shipment of flour. Hundreds of people assembled in the market square waiting hours in line for bread.
Suddenly, shells lobbed from surrounding hills struck the square, leaving a large crater. Among the ruble were 22 dead men, women and children and more than 100 wounded.
Nearby, a man named Vedran Smailovic saw the destruction and ran to the square to help his fallen neighbors. Later he returned home.
Unable to sleep, Vedran struggled with the senseless massacre of so many innocent people. He knew he had to do something, but what?
Dressed in a formal evening jacket, Vedran returned to the square the next day and set a simple chair among the rubble. Although many people had returned to the square to wait in line for bread among the rubble of the previous days massacre, a quiet fell as Vedran played Adagio in G minor, a song known as a musical cry for peace. More HERE.

Pink Floyd and Middle East conflict: Wish you were here... or Another brick in the wall....

Jewish men singing Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd (COVER)
Posted by I Love Rock and Metal on Wednesday, 24 February 2016

UK Students Design 3-In-1 Wearable Shelter For Refugees

Students Design 3-In-1 Wearable Shelter For Refugees
This jacket turns into a tent that could be used to help fleeing Syrian refugees.
Posted by The Huffington Post on Wednesday, 10 February 2016

A Museum Under the Sea

Artist's website.

A Museum Under the Sea
You'll need some diving gear to see the refugee sculptures in this museum.
Posted by AJ+ on Thursday, 11 February 2016

Knowledge is the Beginning

"The Ramallah Concert - Knowledge is the Beginning" is the story of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, where young Arabs and Jews perform and live side by side. It is a film about what music can do; the way it can transcend cultural barriers, bring people together, defeat prejudice and overcome religious and political differences. It also demonstrates the problems that crop up occasionally and how music can help people from different points of view find common ground. For Daniel Barenboim, founder of the ensemble, the orchestra is a symbol for what could be achieved in the Middle East.