In the 1960's the town of Amude on the Northern border of Syria was a haven of creativity and expression. However a tragic fire in one of the town's cinemas left a deep scar within the community that has not been healed for over 60 years.

That is until 2021, when Alaa Abdulfatah and her husband Gernas Haj Shekhmous decided to return to their hometown after years of living in Europe, to build Kulturvan Cultural Center to teach and show art, cinema and music. Kulturvan created the first new cinema in the town since the 60's, and bring creativity back to Amude. Now they are creating a safe and creative space to start washing away the dust of decades of conflict.

This episode includes clips of Gernas Haj Shekhmous playing the daf in the town of Amude, and a performance by the Kulturvan Band.

You can find out more about Alaa's amazing intiative at kulturvan.org and if you want to make a contribution to the intiative or donate instruments to their music drive, get in touch with Kulturvan, art27, or Musicians Without Borders

ReSounding is hosted by Dr Chris Nicholson, Program Development Manager with Musicians Without Borders.

The art27 theme music 'Come Together' was written and performed by Matteo Galesi and was produced for art27 in collaboration with SYNCR.

You can find Matteo at:
www.facebook.com/matteo.galesi
www.instagram.com/teogalesi/
twitter.com/TEOgalesi