Wednesday, 22nd June 2011
Rocker joins Scots Euro MP to speak up for Iraqi cultural freedom
Scottish Euro MP Struan Stevenson will be joined this evening by rock legend and ‘Grumpy Old Man’ Rick Wakeman, together with filmmakers from New York’s Vice magazine, to call for more guarantees for freedom of expression in the wake of the Arab spring. They were speaking ahead of a special screening of documentary film, 'Heavy Metal in Baghdad', at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The pair said that they hoped the screening of the unique film, which follows the plight of Iraq's only heavy metal band, Acrassicauda, struggling to stay alive, stay together and perform freely in post-Saddam Iraq, would focus attention on the plight of refugees fleeing from persecuted minority cultures there.
Acrassicauda is Latin for ‘black scorpion’, an insect common to Iraq. In the documentary, Vice magazine’s filmmakers Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi followed the band over the course of three years, from 2003 to 2006, as they began performing in a free society, before retreating into exile amid threats and persecution.
Speaking ahead of the screening, Struan Stevenson MEP commented:
“'Heavy Metal in Baghdad' stands as a testament to the bravery and perseverance of a group of talented musicians targeted for hatred, persecution and death threats simply because of their desire to express themselves harmlessly through their music.
“The filmmakers discovered that while playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been difficult, there was a brief moment for the band, after the fall of Saddam, in which real freedom seemed possible. That hope was quickly dashed as their country fell into a bloody insurgency and the band members, like thousands of fellow creative and artistic minds, were forced to flee abroad.
“The question that this now poses for politicians here in the EU and elsewhere in the West, is how to avoid similar things happening to creative talent exercising new-found freedom in the wake of the Arab spring. We in the EU must keep pressuring the new Iraqi government and the governments of other Arab states to guarantee the freedoms of their own citizens so that toleration becomes the norm.”
Also speaking ahead of the screening, Rick Wakeman said:
“It strikes me that this brave band just wanted to perform in a way that musicians like me simply take for granted. And why shouldn’t we? This is performance and creative expression we’re talking about, not political subversion or blasphemy.
“I was particularly struck to learn that for many in Iraq, the rocking that happens naturally when metal fans do what they do is seen to resemble the Jewish act of davening, leaving them at risk of death threats. This would be laughable if it wasn’t so symbolic of the dangers faced.
“I would urge all the politicians in this place to do what they can to make sure that in future Iraq and the rest of the Arab world can be a place where musicians like Acrassicauda can live and perform without fearing for their lives.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1. Struan Stevenson is a Scottish Conservative MEP for Scotland and President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq.
2. Rick Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band ‘Yes’. He is also a regular contributor to BBC comedy series ‘Grumpy Old Men’ and for his former radio show on Planet Rock that aired until 2010. He has produced over 100 solo albums that have sold over 50 million copies.
3. Mr Stevenson and Mr Wakeman will both address the audience ahead of the special screening of ‘Heavy Metal in Baghdad’ in PHS 1A00A2, European Parliament, Brussels at 18:00 HRS.
4. For more information, please contact:
Peter Smyth
E: peter@indigopr.com
Tel: 0131 554 1146
Mob: 07766 166 637
Fax: 0131 554 1549
