Culture, Heritage and Youth Nexus in Yemen

When :

from Tuesday 3 March, 2020
17:00
to Tuesday 3 March, 2020
20:30

Type of event :

Exhibition

Where :

BOZAR Museum, Rue Ravensteinstraat 23, 1000, Brussels, Belgium

Contact :

Ahmed Zaouche, Programme Manager, UNESCO GCC and Yemen Office

UNESCO and the EU are pleased to invite you to Culture, Heritage and Youth Nexus in Yemen, an awarenessraising event organized within the framework of the project Cash for Work: Promoting Livelihood Opportunities for Urban Youth in Yemen, funded by the European Union and implemented by UNESCO.

The ongoing conflict in Yemen has been heavily affecting the country’s rich and diverse cultural heritage. At the same time, the conflict exacerbates the existing socio-economic issues faced by many young Yemenis, leaving them in a state of extreme vulnerability.

Cash for Work: Promoting Livelihoods Opportunities for Urban Youth in Yemen creates income opportunities for young people by providing jobs in the cultural sector in connection with urban rehabilitation and cultural programming in four historic cities (Sana’a, Shibam, Zabid and Aden).

Through a photo exhibition, a virtual reality corner and traditional music performance, you will discover the Yemeni cultural heritage and youth engagement in cultural heritage rehabilitation. It will be a moment of sharing preliminary results, lessons learnt and good practices and laying the way forward to the protection and promotion of Yemen’s unique cultural heritage.

Music Concert

The Song of Sana’a, also known as al-Ghina al-San’ani, designates a group of songs that belongs to a rich musical tradition practised throughout Yemen. Derived from various poetic traditions dating from the fourteenth century, this genre constitutes an integral part of social events, such as the samra marriage evenings and the magyal, the daily afternoon gathering of friends and colleagues. The rich musical tradition throughout Yemen is witnessed in the four historical cities targeted in the project.

The songs selected for the musical performance offer an immersion in Yemeni repertoire including the four different music styles of Hadrami Dan music, Songs of Sana’a, Tihami songs and Adeni songs.

Photo Exhibition

This photo exhibition offers a view of the rich heritage of these four cities and the challenges they face for human development and heritage preservation. Sana'a is located in the highlands and renowned for its whimsical architectural design. Shibam is a unique desert town of mud-built tower houses. Zabid preserves traces of its glorious past as the former capital of Yemen in the Middle Ages. Aden is a port city with a complex relationship with its natural environment.

The photos reveal insight into the diverse traditional culture of Yemen and leave a powerful impression of the everyday spirit and resilience of the Yemeni people. The organizers express appreciation to the photographers: Abdullah Alhabshi, Ali Najip, Badr Youssef, Ezat Wagdi, Sheikh Hassan bin Mohamed Al Thani, Maeen Aleryani, Moudhi Al Hajri, Tom Leiermann, and Vladimir Melnik.

Virtual Reality Station

A virtual reality station is opening up a 7-minute immersive experience in the World Heritage Site of Old Sana’a. This initiative will showcase a documentary by the young Yemeni filmmaker, Mariam A-Dhubhani, depicting the effect of the conflict on the crafts industry.

Film Logline:
Yahya Alshaik is a Yemeni silversmith and shop owner at Samsarat Al-Nuhas, a historical building in Old Sana’a City, where jewelry makers sell their crafts. His passion for the craft is what keeps him going despite the hardships caused by the ongoing conflict in Yemen.