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No nation in recent history has suffered as greatly as Afghanistan. Among the many tribulations that nation's citizens had to endure was the banning of all music (both making and playing) by the Taliban.

The removal of the Taliban post-September 11 has seen a surge of interest in Afghan arts. ENSEMBLE KABOUL is one of the best examples of Afghanistan's traditional musical aesthetics.

This July, this quiet but powerful group of musicians will be performing at the Rainforest World Music Festival, Kuching.

They have been in great demand all over the world but have made a space in their busy schedules to spend a week here in Borneo at the expense of refusing some shows in Europe.

They are all, except for Paul Grant who is American, Afghan exiles.

And they are all devoted to the performance of traditional music from Afghanistan.

'Afghanistan has suffered 23 years of war,' explains ENSEMBLE KABOUL leader Khaled Arman. 'Most of the musicians have not survived. I don't mean they died in combat. I mean they suffered psychological trauma. They couldn't stand the weight of war and emigration. Now, some of our instruments are disappearing because nobody is able to play them.'

Arman is a master rubab player. The rubab is a short-necked lute regarded as Afghanistan's national instrument. The music of the ENSEMBLE KABOUL is based on a traditional corpus of melodic modes (râg) and time cycles (tâl, sometimes known as zarb). The Kabul Ensemble shows deep respect for the musical heritage of Afghanistan including the various influences that have been assimilated over the centuries, while retaining its own individual character.

The ensemble's repertoire draws from the classical and folk heritage from the various regions of Afghanistan, but its interpretation is refined by Khaled's very careful arrangements.

The Kabul Ensemble's characteristic sound is produced by a unique blend of timbres, those of the rubâb and the santûr - the latter has rarely been used in Afghanistan, at least not over the past forty years.

The group also brings together several percussion instruments - the tablâ of Indian origin,
the Afghan zirbaghali (similar to the Iranian zarb) and the darabukka of the Islamic
Middle East and North Africa, thus reflecting the various facets of Afghan music and influences.

This is certainly going to be one of the classiest acts at the festival this year. Their workshops will be enlightening sessions as well.

ENSEMBLE KABOUL will be joined by other international bands. Side by side them all will be showcases of Sarawak's own musicians.