The Kurdish artists initiative Hunergeha Welat (Homeland Studio), which carries out cultural activities in northeast Syria and is based in Qamishli (Qamişlo), Rojava, has released a new song called “Em Herin Gund” – Let’s go to the village.
The song talks from a child’s perspective, about the beauty of village life in Rojava, living with and taking care of animals and eating freshly harvested fruits, appreciating people living communally and in connection with nature in villages. The song calls on the listener not to fall into the lies of capitalism, that wants to drive people away from their homelands and promote life in cities, making people lose their culture and their connection to nature and assimilating them into the capitalist way of living. The song is also a protest against the relentless military and psychological attacks of the Turkish state, which destroys vital infrastructure and threatens the lives of people on a daily basis in order to fulfill its aim to empty Rojava and extend its power.
Em Herin Gund was written by Kurdish artist Bawer Can Arî and is sung by Rona Egîd. The music clip was directed by Kurdish Director Roder Dimilî.
Founded in 2014 in Qamishli, Hunergeha Welat has recorded 275 songs and 49 music videos, and provides musical education for children. In their pieces, they aim to reflect the current revolutionary spirit and the feelings of Rojava society. The studio is also a chronicler of the resistance in the various regions of Rojava and other parts of Kurdistan. The initiative is named in memory of the artist Welat, who was killed in an ISIS car bomb attack.
Other clips by Hunergeha Welat include the song Serêkaniyê u Avaşîn, which was written in protest against the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Turkish state and the new clip Keziya Sor (Red Braid) which explores women’s roles in creation, resistance and societal transformation, celebrating their resilience and pivotal contributions to cultural identity and social reform.