This time last year we announced the launch of three exciting music programs that would be taking place at the Delia Arts Center in Gaza, Palestine. They were to be focused on Music Production Training, Women’s Music Initiation, and Solfeggio and Music Theory Training.
It is with great pride that the Delia Arts Foundation can now share some of the fruits of the labour from these programs, in the form of three YouTube videos that were filmed and edited by our in-house content creator, Safa Mohanna.
We caught up with her to understand the process that led to these videos being produced. As with all things Delia, it’s a tale of necessity being the mother of invention and the triumph of spirit. As the saying goes, ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way.’
Safa: I didn’t have much in the way of resources, so I worked with what I have. And I have an iPhone. I then edited the videos on my humble laptop, using Adobe Premiere.
All three of the music training program groups met regularly, probably 3 or 4 times a week. There were roughly 15 to 20 participants in each program, and I tried to film whatever I found interesting during the process of learning.
I wanted to film everything and everyone, but not everyone wanted to be filmed. Some women in particular aren’t allowed to show their faces (owing to their cultural beliefs). That was part of the challenge I faced. I’d say that intermittent electricity was another.
We practised and recorded our songs in a studio that fortunately cancelled out a lot of the noise from the outside world (sirens and drones, for example), and in other rooms, we had to catch the moment when there was some peace and quiet. Life is calm for now, and so we are trying to live our lives normally. There’s a drone that makes an annoying noise, but we try to ignore it as much as we can…
I got to see great improvement throughout the training. Some people came and went, but most stayed for the entire duration of the program and you could see their individual and collective improvement.
Each training needed to end off with a project, so writing and performing a song, and producing a music video to go alongside it, made perfect sense. It was astonishing for me to see the final products.
We Are The Women – (Music for Women Training Program)
For the video for the women’s program, they decided to do a cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘We Are The World’, and called it ‘We Are The Women’.
They wrote their own lyrics for and wrote about women in general. The video begins with one of the attendees, Bisan AlNajar, welcoming the viewer into the Delia Center, as she then walks down the corridor and into the studio. Traditionally, women aren’t allowed to care about music, so it was fun to work with these women and see them discover their voices and explore their passion. Mostly they were just regular girls having fun with each other. This program was more theoretical, more entertaining, and turned out to be great for everyone’s mental health.
When I Saw It Sway / That Beautiful One – (Music Theory Program)
For this video, we decided to go out of the box a little, and we filmed the team in an open space with trees. We recorded the actual sound in the studio though. The trainer of the program chose two songs, which they covered, and the training involved the attendees perfecting those two songs.
The musicians are very talented and have amazing voices. Some aren’t interested in singing professionally, but they still sounded amazing.
You can – (Music Production Training Program)
In this video, the theme is about showing how to share your voice with the world and do what you want. A young boy is playing the oud in the video (Yousif Said), and has a special talent.
The enthusiasm in the video is clear to see. The students were all thrilled to see the final videos, a great culmination of their work. It was about the production process for them, and some of the students are also now finding music industry work and playing at parties. Up next, we will be partnering with the French Institute and opening another series of courses for music production and the women’s program.
People are noticing Delia now, and asking if they can join. It’s good that people are asking questions. I’m grateful to be involved in making music and capturing the process. Music helps us to escape our reality – transporting us to another world.
