Jawa | Syria

The beautiful and spiritual Sufi music has been in dire straits during the war in Syria. But the musical ensemble Jawa refuses to let their musical heritage disappear. They have made it their mission to preserve, but also renew, Sufi music. 

True to tradition, the Jawa musicians bring a dancer on stage – the dervish Hatem Al Jamal. Like his predecessors, he practices the spiritual dance form in which, dressed in a long skirt, one performs repetitive, rotating movements in a symbolic imitation of planets orbiting the sun. The dance is a common meditation practice, in which dervishes seek to reach the source of perfection. 

Sufi music was originally performed a cappella. Jawa still brings instruments to the stage, such as the lute instrument oud, the sitar-like qanun and the long flute nay. In this way, they make traditional Sufi music their own, and let it resound across generations and national borders. For Jawa, it is not just about preserving the musical traditions of Sufism, but also about cultural and spiritual resilience. Look forward to a beautiful musical experience with Syrian roots when the ensemble takes to the stage in Førde !

Khaled Alhafez - vocals  

Akram Ben Romdhane - oud  

Youssef Nassif - qanun  

Tammam Alramadan - nay, kawala  

Simon Leleux - percussion  

Marwan Fakir - fiddle  

Hatem Al Jamal - Dervish Dancer