Since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, music has been banned. Megan Szostak speaks to exiled musicians making themselves heard overseas.
Icy silence is all that’s left of Afghanistan’s musical terrain. When the Taliban rose to power in 2021, accounts of immolating instruments and violent oppression of musicians foreshadowed censorship of virtually all forms of self-expression—an intimately harrowing circumstance for Afghan musicians.
The Taliban rule of 1996–2001 was characterized by similarly strict censorship, including a wide ban on most forms of music, a cause of “moral corruption” according to the government’s ideology. When the Taliban fell from power in 2001 following the U.S.-led invasion of the country, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan built some democratic structures and adopted a constitution in 2004. For a time, Afghanistan reclaimed its vibrant musical culture: Children studied at music schools, televised singing competitions earned national attention, and ensemble directors brought music education and performance opportunities to women and girls, whose rights had been severely curtailed under Taliban laws of the ‘90s.
When the Taliban regained control in August 2021, many musicians fled the country for their safety. Many others could not...Keep reading on Van Magazine.
Icy silence is all that’s left of Afghanistan’s musical terrain. When the Taliban rose to power in 2021, accounts of immolating instruments and violent oppression of musicians foreshadowed censorship of virtually all forms of self-expression—an intimately harrowing circumstance for Afghan musicians.
The Taliban rule of 1996–2001 was characterized by similarly strict censorship, including a wide ban on most forms of music, a cause of “moral corruption” according to the government’s ideology. When the Taliban fell from power in 2001 following the U.S.-led invasion of the country, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan built some democratic structures and adopted a constitution in 2004. For a time, Afghanistan reclaimed its vibrant musical culture: Children studied at music schools, televised singing competitions earned national attention, and ensemble directors brought music education and performance opportunities to women and girls, whose rights had been severely curtailed under Taliban laws of the ‘90s.
When the Taliban regained control in August 2021, many musicians fled the country for their safety. Many others could not...Keep reading on Van Magazine.