Palestinian Music in Exile: Voices of Resistance | Louis Brehony
In this episode of This Is Not a Watermelon, we talk about positioning Palestinian music within a global music scene, cassettes as precious as diamonds, music and resistance, and reiterations of traditional folk music. Global scholar of Palestinian music, activist, and musician Louis Brehony joins us with a roster of musical interludes that take us on a tour of the Palestinian music that should appear on all those "Top 10" rankings we read online.
With each musical interlude, we reflect on whether resistance music is or should be a genre in itself – and if it's even possible to untangle Palestinian music from voices of resistance. Louis shares the struggles to get funding for research related to the "P" word. He highlights the unique characteristics of Palestinian music because of how removed from commercialism it is, and Fairuz as an icon relating to the Palestinian question. Finally, he rebuts the common misconception that all Palestinian music must be sad.
This episode of the This is Not a Watermelon podcast takes the same format as one of our QuarterTones episodes, with musical interludes to accompany the conversation. It was recorded on July 15th 2pm Palestine time.
Louis Brehony is an activist, musician, researcher and educator, and a preeminent global scholar of Palestinian music. He is the director of the award-winning documentary film Kofia: A Revolution Through Music (2021) and has published widely on Palestine and political culture in the Palestine Chronicle, Middle East Monitor, Arab Media and Society, and a range of other journals. He received his PhD from Kings College London and a master's in composition from the University of Salford, and performs internationally as a multi-instrumentalist. He has family origins in Ireland and lives in Manchester, UK.
Connect with Louis
Louis' Book "Palestinian Music in Exile: Voices of Resistance
Palestinian Music in Exile" is a historical and contemporary study of Palestinian musicianship in exile in the Middle East, spanning half a century in disparate locations, including Gaza, Turkey, Kuwait, and Egypt. Grassroots musicians emerge here as powerful actors, their stories taking center stage, offering critiques of existing conditions, and new perspectives on displacement and the transmission of Palestinian narratives, presenting alternative visions for the future.
This Is Not a Watermelon
This podcast series is a celebration and documentation of Palestinian history and culture. We interview experts from various disciplines to help us better understand the facts about Palestine – the land and the people.