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Asian Music Circuit launches new Festival of Afghan Culture

The Asian Music Circuit is delighted to host the first UK festival of Herati music and culture from Afghanistan. The festival aims to open a door onto the rich cultural heritage of Afghanistan and bridge the gap in the knowledge and understanding of a country too often associated with poverty and conflict.

Situated in a fertile valley in western Afghanistan, the ancient city of Herat is nationally recognised as a pre-eminent fount of the arts. An important trading centre, Herat has continuously absorbed new influences while maintaining the essential flavour of its own local culture.

Music is a vital part of Herati culture, even in the late 1990s, during the Taliban's ban on music-making, Herati people took great risks gathering in secret to make and perform their music.

The festival features a tour of Herati musicians and several other events related to the culture of the region, including Afghan Tales, a storytelling event in partnership with Afghan Action and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

For further information and tour dates please click here

To download a copy of the tour flyer click here

To read the press release click here

Music is one of the deepest forms of expression of people's understanding of our world. In many parts of Asia, knowledge has been seen as more of revelation than science, contemplative and intuitive rather than intellectual, That knowledge, which could not easily be expressed in words, found in music an ideal medium through which it could be communicated. Music has the potential to create awareness, a better understanding of people's attitudes and perceptions, their hopes and aspirations. It is that world of intuitive knowledge that is common to mankind and has the potential to unite communities.

To understand the deeper reality of things, of oneself and of our world, is a journey of discovery undertaken by the listener as well as the performer. Their joint and mutual experience leads to a heightened state of mind. Only then does music, to quote one of India's greatest philosophers Dr Radhakrishnan , "give us a sense of the meaningfulness of life and evoke in us ideas of the larger beauty, justice and charity of the universe".

Asian Music Circuit – mission statement

The AMC has set national benchmarks for excellence and high standards in Asian music promotion since 1991. It now aspires to connect the future with the past by presenting the great music traditions of Asia which are increasingly rare and often fragile. Artists chosen by the AMC retain the integrity and spiritual heritage of these traditions and are treated with the dignity, respect and sense of equality they fully deserve. To make the music accessible to all sectors of society the AMC promotes an innovative UK -wide touring and education programme that includes the use of exhibitions and a unique multi media resource centre driven by a digital and interactive audio-visual database and archive aimed especially at the young.