Intersections of Politics and the Sacred in Music

Authors : Antti-ville KÄRJÄ

Pages : 111-136

View : 14 | Download : 9

Publication Date : 2018-09-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In late 2016 and early 2017, the Finnish Immigration Services, known col- loquially as Migri, denied several residence permit and asylym applications from Iraqi artists in particular. While the decisions are classified documents, some of them were brought into the open by the artists themselves; in the decisions, the mortal threat posed by “certain extremist quarters” to espe- cially musicians is noted and linked to Islam, yet the negative decision was based centrally on the claim that if would be safe for the artists in question to return to Iraq if they changed their occupation, since musicianship, or being an artist in general, is not “a distinctive characteristic that is [...] essential for a person’s conscience or realisation of human rights.” (YLE 2017; MS 2017; see also Freemuse 2017.)
Keywords : müzik, politika