Reasons to Stay Home, Reasons Not To
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African groups like Benin’s Gangbe Brass Band and Zimbabwe’s Black Umfolosi gamely tried to make their gigs, but their visas were denied at the last minute because they could not prove that they had something “culturally unique” to offer in the United States. (The denial of visas to African artists has been an ongoing problem for local presenters this year: the Mahotella Queens and Boubacar Traore had to reapply after initial denials and missed chunks of their scheduled tours; Ballake Sissoko never made it into the country.)
United Airlines, which as an official sponsor had pledged free flights for artists, withdrew its support, wiping the Phoenix-based Native American pop band Clan/destine and New York-based Ethiopian singer Gigi off the schedule. The city’s cultural affairs department scrambled to arrange alternative transportation for other artists coming from U.S. cities, renting a tour bus for Haitian singer Emeline Michel and the reggae band Dr. Israel & Seven and buying new plane tickets for five Indian classical musicians and Palestinian oud and violin player Simon Shaheen and his ten-piece band Qantara. Festival organizer Mike Orlove doesn’t buy that the airline couldn’t afford the freebies. “We checked out five of those 15 flights,” he says, “and they all ran on or close to schedule, and at less than 50 percent capacity.” No United spokesperson had returned my call at press time.
Shaheen observes an ignorance in this country about the Middle East, which he blames partly on the American education system. “This issue is so important to me,” he says, “that it be part of the American fabric to learn about other countries, so Americans don’t feel secluded, that this is the only empire in the world, that we don’t need to speak other languages. When I came to this country the perception of the American people about Arabic music was that it was music for belly dancing in Hollywood films….In this context I look at…how this superficial treatment of the other side of the ocean is very arrogant and demeaning.” He bristles at the Bush administration’s unwillingness to distinguish between terrorists and the states in which they operate. “You can call a few individuals uncivilized, but you can’t call all of Egypt uncivilized,” he says. “It’s very dangerous. People will pick up on it and thrive on it.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Michael Jackson.
