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Lebanese Citizens, Syrian Refugees Find Common Ground in Beirut’s Art Scene
BEIRUT – On a recent night in a dimly lit basement of a theater here, the Syrian rock band Pressure Cooker opened for screaming fans, many of whom had been waiting over an hour to watch them play.
The rock band, whose name in Arabic is Tanjaret Daghet, fled civil war and found a music scene that has embraced them, in spite of tensions in other parts of the city over the influx of refugees from the country.
But Beirut’s avant grade music scene has gone against the grain. It is one of the few places where Syrians and Lebanese here can work together and learn from each other – all in the name of art.
“The culture in Lebanon is more welcoming to music like rock and rap, much more than in Syria,” said Haya Haddad, a 21-year-old Syrian who has been in Lebanon since 2013, as she waited to watch Tanjaret Daghet perform.
Lebanon, unlike Syria, has been heavily influenced by popular Western culture. There are more than 50 bars in Beirut, many of which host live music, and a number of larger theaters. There is less government oversight of the arts scene than in Syria, allowing for more freedom.
“In Aleppo, [there wasn’t a place for] electronic music,” said Samer Saem Eldahr, a musician and founder of a music genre called “electro-tarab,” a fusion of electronica and elements from traditional Arab music.
Rappers Hani al Sawah, from Homs, Syria, and Mazen al Darwish, from the northern Lebanon city of Tripoli, said their work together was a natural one, not defined by nationality or religion, but by shared grievances.
“As Lebanese and Syrians we are suffering from the same issues,” said Al Sawah, who goes by the stage name Sayyed Darwich. “We have the same socio-economic problems as youth in this region – a lack of job opportunities, people leaving the country, a lack of stability and lack of clarity on our identity.”
Their recent Arabic rap song draws comparisons between their hometowns of Homs and Tripoli. “I opened my eyes, people were crazy, the ground divided in half, a game of traders and thieves, they want the scenario in Homs to be repeated in Tripoli… No way,” Al Sawah sang in a song called Minet Homs, or Homs Port.
Tanjaret Daghet’s 33-year-old singer and bassist, Khaled Omran, moved from Damascus to Beirut with his two bandmates in 2011, when the conflict at home put their dream of making an album on hold.
When he first arrived, he moved apartments several times, and said Lebanese landlords would often raise the rent, exploiting him and his roommates because they were Syrian.
He currently lives with three other Syrians in a crowded Beirut apartment, all trying to make ends meet through their music and by picking up odd jobs.
But their music is being played to a wider audience than they might have reached at home in Damascus.
Just three years after arriving in Lebanon, the men of Tanjaret Daghet have produced an album and played across Lebanese stages. Their lead vocalist, Omran, has played with Lebanon’s most famous musicians and even for Fairouz, a legendary female singer.
“Perhaps if the crisis hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t have reached this point,” he said.
Source: blogs.wsj.com