GILGAMESH

Summerschool Huskvarna,

Kommune of Jonköping

Sweden

July – August 2016

It is an old story
but one that still can be told
about a man who loved
and lost his friend to death
and learned he lacked the power
to bring him back to life.

During a summer school program in Huskvarna, Sweden, I had the chance to work with several pupils on a choir project. They were mainly coming from Syria, Afghanistan and Africa. It was a wonderful experience which made me think a lot. They teached me Swedish, they reached me that music works best while dancing and that sharing a good time is a pure gift.

I decided to work with them on the book of Gilgamesh,which comes from ancient Iraq. Gilgamesh is the story on the roots of human culture, where we can find a man going through deep pain, searching for hope and slowly coming back to strength again.

Everybody took a sentence from the book and spoke it in his / her own language in front of the video camera.  This was the beginning of interwaving this old story with our present days.

Don’t be afraid, said Gilgamesh,
We are together. There ist nothing
we should fear.