Kashmir-based rock band Ramooz releases the music video for the first track from their upcoming album conceived and recorded during eight months of lockdown in Srinagar. The song “Aalav”, performed in Kashmiri, is infused with emotive lyricism matched by the evocative imagery of its music video. While some might engage with this music video from the frame of a “memoryscape”, its lyrical range and complex scenography ventures equally into the terrain of a “dreamscape”, where disjointed subtexts and multiple motifs point to a story outside of the frame and hidden deep within its contours. As such, “Aalav” (the call) is as evocative as memory and as elusive as dream, and not easily served to literalists. Video credits, relevant links and lyrics included.

Indigenous knowledge has been marginalized and excluded through a system based on a worldview that perpetuates colonialism. The actions and attitudes of nation-states and academic bodies deem, recognize, and value certain ways of knowing as “superior,” which marginalizes knowledge from Indigenous cultures. Considering an educational philosophy that puts the knowledge and worldviews of local cultures at its heart is an urgent step towards changing this situation. In this text, I discuss the implementation of Styres’s (2017) Land-centred philosophical proposal in music education. This approach is built on the understanding that Indigenous knowledge has the same value as knowledge that comes from hegemonic Western centres. This perspective proposes to disrupt the role of Eurocentrism that accepts or rejects different ways of knowing and (re)centers Indigenous knowledge and worldviews.

The latest installment of Kashmiri Hip Hop brings us “Khoon Rezi”, a track by young artists Tufail Nazir and Aatankki who integrate fierce and unapologetic lyricism with a subtle yet steady Trap beat. The track is produced by Semmi On The Beat, mixed and mastered by Ahmer. The music video is directed and edited by Aatankki himself, with Zuhaib Bhat on the camera and drone cinematography by Junaid Bhat / Fx Studio. Lyrics and relevant links included.

During August 5 2019, Kashmir was put under complete lockdown with a telecommunications, internet, press and public transport blockade while a series of mass arrests were taking place during many other unprecedented range of state actions that Kashmir observers and experts have called “a siege.” In the aftermath of such impositions and enforced circumstances over an already struggling Kashmiri population, an anonymous creative “collective of Kashmiri women writing and singing their stories of resistance” emerged on social media with “Kashmiri Bella Ciao”, a song that has become familiar to many. Inverse Journal was able to reach out to the anonymous Zanaan Wanaan creative collective via their official social media account for an exclusive email interview to get a broader understanding of their creative work and ideas (presented here along with relevant links from the media).

As part of a global initiative, musicians worldwide have offered a series of virtual concerts via different social media platforms to encourage people to take social distancing seriously while also spreading awareness about Covid-19 safety measures all around the world. Here are some of those live sessions from around the world that will not be seen by 8 million Kashmiris whose internet speed has been restricted to 2G.

Özgür Baba is a Turkish folk singer and musician who plays the cura baglama and sings folk songs adapted from the verses of the great mystic poets of his land.