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An article published in HBL tells the story of an artistically and musically gifted Al Take family, focusing on two young girls named Hedil and Aatike Al Take. In addition to their singing, Korean pop is one of their favorite music to listen to. The girls don’t see any clash between their admiration for K-pop and their Finnish-Iraqian identity.
Despite their talents, these two young girls like many others are not impermeable to prejudice, racism and many other forms of physical or psychological violence which befall many western societies, including Finland. By the same token, kids may suffer from accumulating pressure from their own communities, trying to strike a balance between cultural recipes and dogmas from their two cultures. Making music is a hard business, especially for young girls like Hedil and Aatike who lack representation. Especially the examples or role models that wear the hijab go often missing, and the negative images of muslims tend to take over more often than the positive ones. I’m also interested in finding out how islam as a religion and music go together, even though knowing that arts has always been an important part of the Arab culture itself, which the Al Take family identifies with. Intersectional feminism can be shown in their very subtle way of the rebellious and romantic way of resisting old impressions and beliefs, such as wearing pastel colours in their clothing and listening to vivid music; often pop, jazz or soft rock music. Their story serves us all as an example of perseverance and hope and, above all, their story serves us, all women, as an example of how to break societal paradigms.
An article published in HBL:
https://www.hbl.fi/…/bildreportage-ar-finland-redo-for-pop…/
https://www.hbl.fi/…/de-har-kvinnorna-har-en-potential-som…/
Photo and video: Nora Sayyad
Text: Laura Klingberg & Nora Sayyad
Video editing by: Timo Kari
Zahra and the project Spaces for the Finnish magazine Kameralehti
As I remember it
A few days ago I made one personal closure by visiting my old school for work purposes. I had not been in the building for over ten years but it still had the same exact odour. All the grey walls had turned into bright colours. I was astonished when I met this young, warm-hearted teacher and all the beautiful and unique children. “This is what Steiner should look like, feel like,” I thought.
I think that the early years of childhood are extremely crucial for one's personal growth. Upon my visit I started to realise once again how much we should value teachers, especially the ones who really know what they are doing. To become a teacher one needs a certain kind of personality. No one is perfect, but I personally think that teachers can have a huge impact on individuals by uplifting and encouraging them. Sadly, also the opposite.