Photo by Samantha RobinsonWhat does hip-hop culture look like in the Middle East? From our comfy little hyggeligt bubble in Denmark, it’s hard to say. We aren’t exactly easily exposed to underground culture happening there—especially now, when the whole sensational dialogue surrounding refugees and immigrants takes prominence over art, music and culture coming out of that region. Perhaps that’s about to change, though, thanks to Copenhagen-based Tia Korpe and Amman-based Shermine Sawalha—the two cofounders of The Word is Yours Festival.The Word is Yours is an upcoming festival taking place in Amman, Jordan focusing on highlighting interregional ubran culture. For two days, a skatepark in Amman will be showcasing Middle Eastern street culture—everything from hip-hop, graffiti, skateboarding, breakdance and art. We called up Tia and Shermine to hear a little bit more about the festival and ask about the connection between Denmark and a festival in the Middle East.Hi, Shermine and Tia. What’s this festival all about?
Shermine: The Words is Yours is about highlighting urban culture in the Jordanian region. It’s about sustaining creative industries and culture on the ground and also providing a safe haven for other artists who come in from the region. Currently more than 80 percent of the population comes from refugee status; Jordan is a very mixed country with lots of Arabs and expats. So the festival is more about giving people a chance to be exposed to freedom of expression through art.Tia, since you live in Denmark, how did you get the idea to organize a festival in Jordan?
Tia: The idea came about when I was visiting Amman last year. There’s a skate park there called 7Hills which is the first community-built skate park in the Middle East. I was at its inauguration and saw it would be a perfect venue to throw a festival. Shermine has a production company in Amman called MALAHI where she basically books artists from the region and I'm the founder of MEKTOUB—a cultural production company. So, it was a perfect match; we’ve been working on this since January pro bono.So what is your funding model—and has the Danish Government helped?
Tia: As I see it, the problem with cultural projects in Denmark is that unless they can do an exchange program where they send artists to the region, they’re not interested in funding projects abroad. The point of organizing this is that we want to sustain the community in Jordan—and Jordan is hosting more refugees, especially from Syria, than pretty much any country. With that in mind, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has its own interests: they want to promote Denmark abroad. They don’t see a point in investing in local culture abroad.Shermine: We are absolutely crowd funded. Unfortunately, since urban hip-hop culture is still quite new to Jordan and people aren’t used to crowd funding in the Middle East, it’s been slow. Lots of people don’t even have credit cards and bank accounts in the Middle East.Why look outside of Denmark to give back culturally in the first place?
Tia: First, I’m a cultural gypsy. I’m the program officer for the whole region for a Danish NGO called Turning Tables, which gives marginalized youth a creative outlet through music and film. We've done DJ and rap workshops in the Middle East which expanded to Jordan, Tunisia, Lybia, Egypt. My prime interest in organizing The Word Is Yours is the talent I see in the region. In Denmark, we tend to focus on what’s trending in terms of music: whatever is coming from the US, UK, Scandinavia is what’s being pushed. The producers coming out of this region are producing amazing beats and I want to spread this culture to Europe. I want to show that the production and music made here is no different from what’s coming out of Europe and the US—it’s just that these people don’t have a platform to actually showcase it.Shermine: What strikes me is how much talent there is in this region and how it’s underrated and underdeveloped. Everyone just wants to talk about war and turmoil in this region. The eye of the camera is always on the sad stories, but out of all the sad stories you can get something beautiful.Ultimately, what’s your goal with this festival?
Tia: First of all, we want people to turn out for the two days and we want all kinds—kids, parents, artists, refugees, non-refugees. We want to expose urban culture to all kinds of people. Secondly, we want to promote some of these artists on a more global scale so that they actually get a little bit of shine. I’m sure that some of the producers who are sitting in Denmark right now would be like ‘Oh shit, this is amazing’. Finally, we want this to be a sustainable, long-term project.Thanks, Tia and Shermine.The Word Is Yours Festival happens on October 2 & 3 in Amman, Jordan. If you think this is cool and want to support, you can contribute here.
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Shermine: The Words is Yours is about highlighting urban culture in the Jordanian region. It’s about sustaining creative industries and culture on the ground and also providing a safe haven for other artists who come in from the region. Currently more than 80 percent of the population comes from refugee status; Jordan is a very mixed country with lots of Arabs and expats. So the festival is more about giving people a chance to be exposed to freedom of expression through art.Tia, since you live in Denmark, how did you get the idea to organize a festival in Jordan?
Tia: The idea came about when I was visiting Amman last year. There’s a skate park there called 7Hills which is the first community-built skate park in the Middle East. I was at its inauguration and saw it would be a perfect venue to throw a festival. Shermine has a production company in Amman called MALAHI where she basically books artists from the region and I'm the founder of MEKTOUB—a cultural production company. So, it was a perfect match; we’ve been working on this since January pro bono.
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Tia: As I see it, the problem with cultural projects in Denmark is that unless they can do an exchange program where they send artists to the region, they’re not interested in funding projects abroad. The point of organizing this is that we want to sustain the community in Jordan—and Jordan is hosting more refugees, especially from Syria, than pretty much any country. With that in mind, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has its own interests: they want to promote Denmark abroad. They don’t see a point in investing in local culture abroad.Shermine: We are absolutely crowd funded. Unfortunately, since urban hip-hop culture is still quite new to Jordan and people aren’t used to crowd funding in the Middle East, it’s been slow. Lots of people don’t even have credit cards and bank accounts in the Middle East.Why look outside of Denmark to give back culturally in the first place?
Tia: First, I’m a cultural gypsy. I’m the program officer for the whole region for a Danish NGO called Turning Tables, which gives marginalized youth a creative outlet through music and film. We've done DJ and rap workshops in the Middle East which expanded to Jordan, Tunisia, Lybia, Egypt. My prime interest in organizing The Word Is Yours is the talent I see in the region. In Denmark, we tend to focus on what’s trending in terms of music: whatever is coming from the US, UK, Scandinavia is what’s being pushed. The producers coming out of this region are producing amazing beats and I want to spread this culture to Europe. I want to show that the production and music made here is no different from what’s coming out of Europe and the US—it’s just that these people don’t have a platform to actually showcase it.Shermine: What strikes me is how much talent there is in this region and how it’s underrated and underdeveloped. Everyone just wants to talk about war and turmoil in this region. The eye of the camera is always on the sad stories, but out of all the sad stories you can get something beautiful.Ultimately, what’s your goal with this festival?
Tia: First of all, we want people to turn out for the two days and we want all kinds—kids, parents, artists, refugees, non-refugees. We want to expose urban culture to all kinds of people. Secondly, we want to promote some of these artists on a more global scale so that they actually get a little bit of shine. I’m sure that some of the producers who are sitting in Denmark right now would be like ‘Oh shit, this is amazing’. Finally, we want this to be a sustainable, long-term project.Thanks, Tia and Shermine.The Word Is Yours Festival happens on October 2 & 3 in Amman, Jordan. If you think this is cool and want to support, you can contribute here.