Concern over Sanubar Tursun: Uyghur Cultural Icon's Concerts Cancelled in France
- 31 janv. 2019
- Par gblee
- Blog : La longue marche de Gregory Lee
In her article published on January 17, 2019 in The Globe Post, Rachel Harris, professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London) and expert in Uyghur music, expressed her concerns about the sudden disappearance of one of the most influential figures in Uyghur music, Sanubar Tursun, her long-term collaborator and friend since 2000. Indeed, none of Sanubar Tursun’s international collaborators has been able to reach her since late November 2018.
These concerns are not unsupported: they are grounded in an attested critical situation. Over the past few months, the Chinese state conducted massive arbitrary arrests of Uyghur intellectuals and arbitrary detentions of up to a million Uyghurs in Northwest China according to several reports unveiled by the UN in August 2018.
Since 2017, the Uyghurs, a Turkic people native to Central Asia who live in a region essential to China’s New Silk Road development, have been undergoing systematic forms of repression and oppression at an unprecedented level, as revealed by several experts on the region, international organizations and testimonies from former detainees or their relatives. Academic and press articles as well as statements by official institutions and organizations have provided extensive evidence to contradict China’s claim that the situation is a “national struggle against religious extremism and separatism”.
Different sources close to Sanubar Tursun reported that she was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison. Chinese officials, who were contacted by journalists from RFA and the New York Times among others, refused to comment on this information or on Sanubar Tursun’s current location. The only certainty to date is that the name of Sanubar Tursun can be added to a growing list of academics, artists and public figures who disappeared in the past few months.
The case of Sanubar Tursun reminds us how powerful, but also exposed, fragile and vulnerable the voice of an artist is. This is unfortunately one example amongst many in the tragedy that is unfolding in the Uyghur region, and that now disrupts the French and international art scene, as well as the life of its audience who were looking forward to meet Sanubar Tursun in February.
This letter is thus calls on all the venues where Sanubar Tursun performed in the past, or was scheduled to perform this year, as well as the international community of ethnomusicologists and artists, to join us in signing this letter and express their concern over and unconditional solidarity with Sanubar Tursun, Uyghur artists and the whole Uyghur community which is currently under attack.
References
China’s mass arrest of Uyghur intellectuals: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/world/asia/china-xinjiang-uighur-intellectuals.html
Reports on one million Uyghurs in detention camps: https://www.merics.org/cn/node/8721
Rachel Harris’s article on the disappearance of Sanubar Tursun:
https://theglobepost.com/2019/01/17/cultural-genocide-xinjiang/
Signatories:
- Ahmed Al-Badr, PhD in Ethnomusicology, Alberta, Canada
- Jane Alaszewska, SOAS (Université de Londres)
- Phil Alexander, University of Glasgow
- Elise Anderson, Indiana University
- Sandrine Arnoux-Rebai, Professeure de l’Education nationale, France
- Isabelle Assayah, Drôme, France
- Laurent Aubert, ancien directeur de l’ADEM (Atelier d’ethnomusicologie – musique et danse du monde)
- Alexandra Balandina, TEI Central Greece
- Cassandre Balosso-Bardin, University of Lincoln
- Ildikó Bellér-Hann, University of Copenhagen
- Margaret Birley, Keeper of Musical Instruments, Horniman Museums and Gardens
- François Borel, Musée d’ethnographie et Université de Neuchâtel
- Albertine Bourget, Journaliste
- Etienne Bours, journaliste RTBF, Belgique
- Gardner Bovingdon, Indiana University
- Raquel Campos Valverde, London South Bank University
- Martina Catella, musicienne, ethnomusicologue et pédagogue, Paris
- Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy, UCLA, Los Angeles
- Sandrine Emmanuelle Catris, Augusta University
- Luc Charles-Dominique, Université Nice Sophia-Antipolis
- Jérôme Cler, Université de la Sorbonne
- Michael Clarke, National Security College, ANU
- Mathieu Clavel, musicien et organisateur de concerts, Lausanne, Suisse
- Fabrice Contri, directeur, Ateliers d’ethnomusicologie, Genève
- Maëlle Coulange, musicienne, Lussas, France
- Isabelle Courroy, musicienne, L'oreille buissonnière, France
- Dean Craven, King’s College, London
- Anne Damon-Guillot, Université de Lyon/Université de Saint-Etienne
- Patrik Dasen, ethnomusicologue, Genève
- Kiku Day, etnomusicologue, Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark
- Joël Delmas, Bours, France
- Monique Desroches, professeure émérite, Université de Montréal
- Yousra Dhahbi, musicienne et pédagogue, Lausanne
- Samantha Dieckmann, University of Oxford
- Cécile Douge, Besançon
- June Teufel Dreyer, University of Miami
- Byron Dueck, Senior Lecturer and Head of Music, The Open University
- Vincent Durand-Dastès, INALCO (Paris)
- Arienne Dwyer, University of Kansas
- Lejla Dzambazov, ethnomusicologist, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Argibel Euba-Ugarte, University of the Basque Country / Université du Pays Basque.
- Magnus Fiskesjö, Cornell University
- Giuseppe Frana, musicien, Cava de' Tirreni, Italie
- Renata Frana, musicienne, Cava de' Tirreni, Italie
- Vanessa Frangville, Université libre de Bruxelles
- Dora Gama Statunato, musicienne, Italie
- Georges Goormaghtigh, Université de Genève
- Catherine Grant, musician, researcher and teacher, Brisbane, Australia
- Paul Grant, musicien et pédagogue, Genève
- Mahmoud Guettat, professeur émérite, Université de Tunis
- Roberte Hamayon, anthropologue, EPHE, PSL, Paris
- Rachel Harris, SOAS (Université de Londres)
- Mireille Helffer, directeur de recherche honoraire au CNRS, Paris
- David Hugues, SOAS (Université de Londres)
- Angela Impey, SOAS (Université de Londres)
- Kristina Jacobsen, University of New Mexico
- Marie José Justamond, présidente du festival Les Suds à Arles
- Thierry Kellner, Université libre de Bruxelles
- Chérif Khaznadar, président de la Maison des cultures du monde, Paris
- Ondřej Klimeš, Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences
- Frank Kouwenhoven, Director of CHIME, European Foundation for Chinese Music Research
- Jean Lambert, Musée de l'Homme, Paris
- Hubert Laot, ancien Directeur de l’Auditorium du Musée National des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet
- Sylvie Laurent, Musée des Confluences, Lyon
- Madeleine Leclair, Musée d'ethnographie de Genève
- Gregory B. Lee, Directeur, IETT, Professeur d'études chinoises et transculturelles, Université de Lyon
- James Leibold, La Trobe University
- Bernard Lortat-Jacob, directeur de recherche honoraire au CNRS, Paris
- Nicolas Magriel, musician and ethnomusicologist
- Victor H. Mair, University of Pennsylvania
- Dominique Maliesky, Sciences Po Rennes
- Sarah Manasseh, ethnomusicologist and performer
- Maria Manca, MDC, Université Paris Diderot
- Denis-Constant Martin, Sciences-Po, Bordeaux
- Silvia Maria Mastropierro, Molfetta, Italie
- Mukaddas Mijit, Université de Toulouse
- Simon Mills, Durham University
- James Millward, Georgetown University
- Patrick Morell, cinéaste, New York
- Jeremy Narby, anthropologue indépendant
- Bruno Netti, University of Illinois
- Edith Nicol, mélomane et activiste culturelle, France
- Georgette Nummelin, SOAS (University of London)
- Matthieu Rietzler, Directeur de l’Opéra de Rennes
- Jaboc Olley, University of Muenster
- Tom Pauwels, Ensemble Ictus, Bruxelles
- Rowan Pease, SOAS (University of London)
- Carol Pegg, University of Cambridge
- Eddy Pennewaert, Colophon Records, Bruxelles
- Stelios Petrakis, musicien et luthier, Heraklion
- François Picard, Président de la Société française d’ethnomusicologie
- Pribislav Pitoeff, Musée de l’Homme, Paris
- Jean-Luc Plouvier, Ensemble Ictus, Bruxelles
- Douglas Ponton, University of Catania
- Ian Price, musicien
- Vinca Prost, styliste
- Julie Pruche, Finistère Sud, France
- Anne K. Rasmussen, William & Mary, Past-President, Society for Ethnomusicology
- Dilnur Reyhan, INALCO (Paris)
- Sean Roberts, George Washington University
- Eric Schluessel, University of Montana
- Mathieu Schweizer, Conservatoire de Lyon
- Kengo Saito, musicien et comédien
- Joanne Smith Finley, Newcastle University
- Rune Steenberg, University of Copenhage
- Henry Stobart, Royal Holloway University of London
- Shzr Ee Tan, RHUL
- Hwee-San Tan, SOAS (Université de Londres)
- Dante Tanzi, composer, Italy
- Marie Thiérault, Université de Montréal
- Sabine Trébinjac, CNRS
- Emmanuelle Troy, Gironde, France
- Fanny Valembois, co-fondatrice du festival Made in Asia
- Gerd Van Looy, Ensemble Ictus, Bruxelles
- Valence Vieillevigne, Canada
- Florent Villard, Science-po Rennes
- Veronique Walsh, PhD student in ethnomusicology, SOAS (University of London)
- Frances Wilkins, The Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, Scotland
- Gloria Wong, Société de Musique Chinoise de Colombie Britannique
- Abigail Wood, University of Cambridge and University of Haifa
- Owen Wright, SOAS (University of London)
- Vincent Zanetti, Radio Télévision Suisse
- Adrian Zenz, independent researcher
To sign, please email: WhereIsSanubarTursun@mail.com
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