{"product_id":"mahsa-vahdat-skruk-braids-of-innocence-cd","title":"Mahsa Vahdat \u0026 SKRUK \/\/ Braids of innocence \/\/ CD","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cb data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe album that became part of the Iranian women’s struggle for freedom\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cb data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMahsa Vahdat and SKRUK: “Braids of innocence”. Harp: Ellen Bødtker\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWhen the new CD \u003cspan class=\"s1\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eproject\u003c\/span\u003e with Mahsa Vahdat and SKRUK was about to be recorded in the summer of 2022, Mahsa proposed the title “Braids of innocence”. \u003cspan class=\"s2\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eLittle did she know then how explosive this title would come to be in light of events in her homeland Iran just some months later.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe roots of the title are found in an incident from Mahsa’s childhood which one of the texts tells us about. She was 11 years old and about to visit her uncle who had been imprisoned in Teheran for political \u003cspan class=\"s3\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eactivities\u003c\/span\u003e. This was a few years after the Islamic revolution, and it had become compulsory for all females from age 9 and up to wear a headdress. The same morning Mahsa’s mother had made a cluster of braids in the girl’s thick hair. When they came to the prison and met her uncle who was sitting behind a glass wall with some tens of other prisoners, the mother managed to surreptitiously show the uncle Mahsa’s braids, and for the imprisoned men the glimpse they had of the braids was like a ray of freedom.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe Iranian musicians Mahsa Vahdat and Atabak Elyasi have worked on this \u003cspan class=\"s1\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eproject\u003c\/span\u003e for three years for Mahsa and SKRUK and the harpist Ellen Bødtker. Mahsa has written the melodies, Atabak has written poems and arrangements and additional melodies for the choir, and the producer Erik Hillestad has rendered the poems into English. Mahsa, SKRUK and the publisher, KKV, agreed in the summer to use the exquisitely subtle title “Braids of innocence” for the album. Everyone saw it as somewhat special, but also as an original and exciting source of curiosity. But that was before 18 September when Mahsa Amini was murdered by the morality police in Tehran because her veil did not \u003cspan class=\"s3\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eadequately cover her braids\u003c\/span\u003e. This act ignited a rage in the hearts and fed the yearning for freedom of an entire generation of Iranian women. And braids also became a symbol, a freedom flag for women around the globe. It also instantly made Mahsa Vahdat’s and SKRUK’s album a rallying manifesto, an explosive comment on the streaming news this autumn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIn Mahsa’s words: “The \u003cspan class=\"s1\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eproject\u003c\/span\u003e acquired a new dimension as the events in my home country of Iran were commented on so directly by both the title and the content of the songs we had recorded. The performance of my art has always been driven by the constant ambition to use my expressive power to raise \u003cspan class=\"s3\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eawareness and kindle hope against suffering and injustice\u003c\/span\u003e, so for me this project has been extra important”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e“Braids of innocence” also features several other songs that are highly relevant for the world’s first revolution led by women, the struggle for freedom being fought in Iran: “The tyrants will lose”, “I came free”, “Wakeful night”, and the opening track “A thousand birds will chant your song” are all poems and melodies that cut right to the heart of this issue. Two other poets are also featured on the record: the classic Rumi and the contemporary poet Mohammad Ibrahim Jafari.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMahsa and Atabak call themselves “liberal traditionalists”, and the music on the album is thus a special genre. SKRUK’s conductor, Per Oddvar Hildre describes it as tonal paintings. Ellen Bødtker’s harp is the centre point for the soloist’s and choir’s sound palette, where Atabak’s harmonies break with most rules for choral arrangements. The overriding effect is both unusual and exquisitely beautiful. It is also a torch lighting the way for how the Western countries should address the on-going protests and the Iranian regime’s abusive treatment of its own people.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p5\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe album was recorded in Volda Church in August 2022 by Alf Christian Hvidsteen.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kirkelig Kulturverksted","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42254633566403,"sku":"FXCD494","price":179.0,"currency_code":"NOK","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0610\/7116\/3587\/products\/FXCD494_1000x1000_b29d3711-dc3d-458a-9666-c7ee227e4d9d.jpg?v=1669973840","url":"https:\/\/kkvbutikken.myshopify.com\/en\/products\/mahsa-vahdat-skruk-braids-of-innocence-cd","provider":"KKV Nettbutikk","version":"1.0","type":"link"}