Making music in exile and fighting border violence

Abstract

This article has been written in collaboration with Beshwar Hassan, a Kurdish musician who spent a few months in the camp of Grande-Synthe, near Dunkirk (France). Music was highly important in the leadership role he played in the camp. It especially gave him the ability to entertain the community and draw the attention and sympathy of humanitarian workers and volunteers who supported his position. During his time in the camp, he “became” a musician through the recognition of both his musical skills and his leadership. This study analyzes how he constructed his online presence through his relationship with music, using Facebook both as a social medium and as a technical tool, that is, a space where music is “mediated” through the technical capabilities of the platform and used to share narratives of exile with an audience made up of Facebook friends. This research began while Beshwar Hassan and his family were living in the Grande-Synthe camp and ended 1 year later when they were granted asylum in the United Kingdom.