‘All that is banned is desired.’

The report is a documentation of a regional conference "Freedom of Expression in Music", that was held in Beirut from 7 to 8 October 2005, in collaboration with Freemuse - World Forum on Music and Censorship and Irab-Arabic Association for Music.

The report does not give a full picture of music censorship in the Middle East and North Africa. It does, however, give a picture of a region that – like many other regions of the world – experiences both traditionalist and modernist tendencies, civil and religious trends as well as struggles for self-determination and cultural diversity against cultural domination.

The report includes statements from international artists such as Marcel Khalife, Salman Ahmad, Clotaire K and Mahsa Vahdat, who all took part in the conference, and analytical perspectives from Islamic scholars and researchers.

The report also sheds new light on the controversial case of so called Heavy rock “Devil-worshippers” in Morocco 2003 in a session including historian Mark LeVine and two of the musicians involved in the case.

 

Product details
Date of Publication
July, 2010
Publisher
Freemuse and Irab
Licence
All rights reserved
Language of publication
English and Arabic