On 8 June the Culture and Arts Programme organised an evening to celebrate the launch of Reem Talhami’s new album, Carried by the Night. The event was held in partnership with Jerusalem Art at the Foundation in Ramallah, with a videoconference to Gaza.
Talhami talked about her experiences working on the project, the challenges she faced, and the deep dialogues she and her collaborators shared, whether during work on the lyrics which were written by poet Khaled Jumaa, or during the composition of the music, which was done by Saeed Murad. Jumaa, who talked about his excitement at being involved in the project, attended the evening virtually, from his home in Khan Younis, Gaza via Skype.
The album —the fourth by Talhami— was produced with the support of the Qattan Fund for Performing Arts, along with the Ministry of Culture’s Palestinian Culture Fund.
The album features ten ‘love songs’ to Gaza, which aim to show a different perspective on the area than is usually presented in the media. Significant time and effort was required to complete the album, due to the Israeli Occupation’s separation of the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, which meant that Talhami and Jumaa could only communicate via email and Skype.
Talhami took the decision to launch her album in several Palestinian cities, in order to reach all Palestinians no matter where they are. To overcome the obstacles imposed by the Occupation, which makes movement between cities difficult, if not forbidden, launch campaigns were held separately in Nablus, Hebron, Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Shafa Amr.