Songs Bring Locals and Migrants Together in Bosnian Town

An innovative project in Bihac, in north-west Bosnia, is bringing locals and migrants together around a shared love of music.

Local musicians, as well as talented musicians from the Middle East, are gathered around the Sounds of Migration project, which points to the similarities between hosts and migrants and whose goal is furthering cultural exchanges between the local population and migrants.

The project is overseen by the Bihac Music Youth with the help of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Resilience Initiative, BHRI, funded by United States Agency for International Development, USAID, and implemented by International Organization for Migration, IOM.

Clarinettist and saxophonist Adnan Busuladzic, who is engaged in the project, told BIRN that the project started in December last year, and mostly involved teachers from Bihac's art school.

"We have recorded 10 songs, [two] videos - one released yesterday, and we need to shoot another video. Those are our original songs, songs from [where the migrants and refugees come from] Iran and Afghanistan," Busuladzic said.

On Tuesday, they published their latest music video, the Persian song Soltane Ghalbha, performed by musicians from the Bihac Haman Jazz Band, and vocals from migrants located in Bihac. The main roles in the video also belong to migrants.

Children and youngsters from the local community and migrant community are participating in 30 music workshops, organized by the Music Youth Bihac at the Bihac migrant reception centre, Sedra,

At the workshops, they learn traditional music, sharing musical experiences and the joy of music.

In April, youngsters recorded a song entitled Children of the World under the Sounds of Migration project.

The children...