Girls from the persecuted Yazidi community in Northern Iraq, who formed a choir to help keep their folk traditions alive, visited the UK last week and were hosted by the charity at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park. They also gave a special performance to staff and guests, during their stay.
The awareness-raising visit included performances at Westminster Abbey, Clarence House, the Houses of Parliament, and in the Bodleian Library and New College Chapel, Oxford.
The girls come from the Mount Sinjar region of Iraqi Kurdistan, where thousands of Yazidi people have been murdered by ISIS fighters in what has been recognised by the United Nations are genocide. The girls – some as young as 15 - have been personally affected by the violence and now live in a refugee camp, in exile.
They performed in the Library at Cumberland Lodge on Thursday evening, along with Qawal musicians, presenting both religious music and traditional folk songs from their home villages.
Their concert was introduced by Dr Mahmoud Othman, a Yazidi member of the Iraqi Governing Council, who has been accompanying their London tour. Dr Othman is the former head of the Kurdistan Socialist Party and was Minister of State for Civil Society in the Interim Iraqi Governing Council, following the United States invasion in 2003. He told the story of the Yazidi people, and explained the roots of their distinctive music.
Edmund Newell, Chief Executive of Cumberland Lodge, is also a trustee of the AMAR Foundation, the British education and healthcare charity that supported the establishment of the Yazidi Choir and has been providing musical training and wider support for hundreds of exiled Yazidis.
He said, ‘It has been a privilege and an inspiration to host these brave young people. The charity at Cumberland Lodge was founded in the aftermath of war and genocide, in 1947. Our founding vision was to address the causes and effects of social division, through open dialogue and debate, to help prevent the terrible consequences that ensue. We provide opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to get together and exchange views and ideas on pressing issues that affect us all.
‘Our founder, Amy Buller, started this work in Germany, during the rise of National Socialism in the 1930s, but the crisis now facing the Yazidis in Northern Iraq is a stark example of societal breakdown in the 21st century, and one that we should all learn from to avoid such a thing happening again.’
The Yazidi Choir was formed with the support of the British education and healthcare charity, the AMAR Foundation, which is headed by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne. The project aims to help young people cope with the trauma they have suffered and to preserve their folk music, which is integral to both their religious observance and cultural identity, but has been suppressed under successive regimes.
Baroness Nicholson explained: ‘Five of the choir members who visited the UK last week were kidnapped and held as sex slaves by various members of ISIL, before escaping after months or even years of captivity. One of them, still only 15, was just 10 years old when she was captured.
‘The choir was created to help them deal with the psychological trauma they suffered at the hands of these thugs. It is one of a number of projects designed to help the mental health in general, of people living for years in the sprawling IDP [internally displaced persons] camps in northern Iraq.’
The Yazidi community is a distinct minority-ethnic group, which is closely tied to its homeland in Iraqi Kurdistan, with their own religion, and cultural roots that can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia. Prior to the recent crisis involving ISIS fighters, the Yazidi people have suffered successive genocides, including under Turkish-Ottoman rule, and more recently under Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaida.
During their visit last week, the choir handed over recordings of their traditional music for safekeeping in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, as part of a project overseen by the AMAR Foundation, with funding from The British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund.
For enquiries, please contact Emma Albery at ealbery@cumberlandlodge.ac.uk or call 01784 497790 (Monday to Wednesday).
Founded in 1947, with the support of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Cumberland Lodge is a charity that empowers people, through dialogue and debate, to tackle the causes and effects of social division.
We convene multi-sector conferences, seminars and panel debates that engage people of all ages, backgrounds and perspectives in candid conversations, to challenge silo thinking and build networks with the power to drive positive change.
By commissioning rigorous, interdisciplinary research to guide our conversations, and refining key themes of discussion into practical, policy-focused recommendations, we incubate fresh ideas that promote progress towards more peaceful, open and inclusive societies. In 2019-20, we are focusing on ‘Inclusion & Opportunity’. You can find out more about this series here.
Our educational programmes help to nurture future leaders and change-makers. We offer: subsidised study retreats and bursaries for university students; scholarships and personal development opportunities for doctoral students; conferences and retreats to support international students from all over the world; and thought-provoking workshops for school-aged children. Through these, we equip and inspire students and young people to work towards social progress in their lives and careers.
We also run regular public events for the local community, including Cumberland Conversations with guest speakers from public life, guided tours, fundraising dinners, film screenings, art exhibition open mornings, garden parties and literary retreats.
For enquiries, please contact Emma Albery at ealbery@cumberlandlodge.ac.uk or call 01784 497790 (Monday to Wednesday).