Syrian artist to take stage post-paella as part of next Saturday's “Formentera amb Síria”

artista siriaThe Formentera Council's Offices of Cultura and Social Welfare, alongside the NGO Progreso y Desarrollo Humano, have launched Formentera amb Síria (Formentera with Syria). The keynote act, Saturday February 18, gets going at 2.00pm with a fundraiser paella in the festival tent at the car park of Sa Senieta. A recent addition to the day's programme is a concert by Syrian artist Ashti Abdo (Aleppo, 1982), scheduled for 5.30pm.

During the performance, Abdo will show BEJA, his own video reflecting on the war raging through his country. He spent five years writing the piece, and provides his own accompaniment on a typical Syrian saz. He also interprets traditional Kurdish airs, songs that grapple with the lives of Kurdish people, the tales of refugees and, even, love stories.

The Formentera music school's clarinet ensemble performs at 5.00pm, before Nieves Portas leads a show by students of the municipal dance centre. Next up are Lunares, Voice & Senses and La 22, leaving the final spot for the “solidary discomobile”. The party stops at 1.00am.

Visit from Nadia Ghulam
Artist and refugee Nadia Ghulam gives a talk on Wednesday, 7.30pm in Centre Antoni Tur Gabrielet. She will also be at the festival's point of sale, which the centre hosts Monday through Friday next week, 12 noon to 2.00pm and 6.00 to 8.00pm. All proceeds go to benefit Progreso y Desarrollo Humano.

Cinema and theatre for a cause
Recall that next February 17, Friday at 9.00pm, a screening of documentary filmmaker Jordi Évole's Astral will be held in the municipal cinema (Sala de Cultura). On February 19, Sunday at 5.30pm in the same venue, Iguana Produccions present their Hanna dels tres països to audiences six to twelve. The same day at 8.00pm there will be an additional screening of Astral. Tickets for the event cost three euros and benefit the NGO “ProActiva Open Arms”.

Organisation of the events was shared between the Council and Progreso y Desarrollo Humano, a local association founded in 2012 to work on social issues and cooperation in the Global South. All money raised benefits ADSN, a group working with Syrian refugees in Greece. Other sponsors include the Pityusic Islands cooperation fund, Carlin, Baleària, Dignitis, Acción Directa Sierra Norte, Formentera Service and comunica360.