Breaking the Silence: Afghanistan documentary out on DVD Under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan musical instruments were destroyed and burned. The only music allowed was unaccompanied Taliban chants. Breaking the Silence was shot in Kabul just after the fall of the Taliban regime and portrays, among other things, the first concerts in the bombed-out city.
Simon Broughton's award winning documentary Breaking the Silence from 2002 is now available on DVD, with added extra performances from the Ensemble Kaboul and Mashinai the Butcher! There's also the first broadcast of a woman singer from March 2004.
Ethnomusicologist John Baily and Freemuse executive director Marie Korpe speak about the Taliban’s campaign against music and musicians in Afghanistan and Pakistan
In a short documentary video about music and 'community censorship' in Afghanistan, the 19-year-old Afghan singer Mariam says she gets verbal abuse all the time
Freemuse Special Report, 'The cage is singing', is an in-depth report with ten video interviews and a book about music censorship in Afghanistan - past and present
A report from a music school in Kabul is a story about the kind of difficulties and dangers female musicians face in present day Afghanistan. They must work in secret
One of "Afghanistan's living treasures", Ustada Farida Mahwash stepped foot in Afghanistan for the first time in almost two decades to give a series of benefit concerts
Excerpts from a report on the situation in Afghanistan by U.S. Department of State, entitled “International Religious Freedom Report 2006”, released on 15 September 2006
Afghan DJ Besho has been criticised by an influential cleric among Afghanistan’s religious élite: "Singing about women and guns is certainly not allowed."
Lima Sahar charmed her way into the third spot of the 2008 version of the wildly popular 'Afghan Star' competition. Now in exile, she fears for her life
A letter from the Ministry of Culture and Information stated that "everything which is against the Sharia laws should not be printed, broadcasted, audio/video telecasted"
A commission for cultural and religious affairs in Afghanistan's lower house of parliament suggested to impose new restrictions on music and dance performance
18-year-old Lima Sahar has placed herself in the middle of Afghanistan's continous gender and music struggle. She could become the winner of the tv show 'Afghan Star'
Two people were killed and several wounded by a bomb that exploded in a music download shop in Afghanistan's south-eastern town of Khost on 22 April 2007
On May 18, 2005, ex-TV presenter Shaima Rezayee, 24, was shot in Kabul by unknown men. Her killing is possibly linked to her presenting of the music show ‘Hop’.
The Taliban in Pakistan's in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan are imposing a fine of 500 rupees for any one playing music in public, reports several news agencies
As the first female singer to take to the stage in Afghanistan in more than a decade, Tajik singer Maniza Daulat performed for 1,500 male fans in Kabul
130 Afghans have established a new musician’s organisation, the Afghanistan Music Foundation, to fight against music censorship and oppression of musicians
Pakistani musicians living near the country's border with Afghanistan have complained they are being harassed by hardliners attempting to stamp out music and movies
