Afghanistan’s first and only women’s orchestra, Zohra, has been awarded the Freemuse Award 2017.
The orchestra is comprised of a group of students from the National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul.
The Afghanistan music industry is currently facing tremendous challenges following years of oppression under the Taliban and decades of war, which has led to dozens of musicians having fled the country.
Music and entertainment was completely banned under the Taliban after the hardline group took over in 1995.
In addition to banning music, the Taliban also prevented women from being educated – a move that dealt a heavy blow to literacy rates among females.
But, following the establishment of the new democratic system in 2001, the Afghan music industry was revived.
In 2010, Afghanistan’s visionary musician Dr. Ahmad Sarmast took a new initiative to revive the music school and ANIM was founded.
Empowerment of women in Afghanistan through music is one of the key objectives pursued by ANIM.
At the moment, at least 65 girls are studying at the institute, which also has about 200 male students.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/5163
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