Nancy Ajaj returns to the forefront with hot statements

Nancy Ajaj: I am not the one who goes into the mortars … and the people have a religion for me

It is not just a melodious voice or a shiny lyrical talent, but rather an integrated artistic and human condition, and an ethical position that is not budging. Nancy Ajaj is the voice that came out of the womb of people, from their pain and tragedies, to sing for the marginalized, overpowering and tired. Sincerely with her voice, she swept the artistic scene in a short time, and she signed its summit alone, not because she competed with anyone, but rather she chose not to resemble anyone.

She took a special path for themselves, and she adopted a unique art school, in which she clung to noble values ​​and fine messages, which made her vulnerable to distortion and demonization campaigns, in a desperate attempt to silence the throat that moves the conscience. But it remained standing like a palm tree, threw stones with a song, and the ugliness is met with more beauty.

In wartime, where silence was greeted by many artists for fear of treachery, and others vowed to loyal to the parties to the military conflict, forgetting all the values ​​they repeated in their songs, Nancy was one of the few who visited their moral position clearly: against war, against blood, against ruin. She did not compliment, did not compromise, and did not hide behind cold neutrality. It was the voice that says “no”, when they made no crime.

In this dialogue, Nancy Ajaj tells about her artistic experience, but also opens a collective wound with sincere words, and a testimony is presented about what he means to be an artist in the time of collapse. It is a dialogue with art and the situation, with the wounded homeland, with the indisputable questions:

Can singing heal a country bleeding? Can art save the remaining collective memory?

Here you do not only find a talk about art, but a living testimony from the heart of ruin, and an emotional pleading on the meaning of being an artist in a stumpant home, and about the responsibility of the word when silence becomes a betrayal.

How does Nancy live the reality of war in Sudan from its location as an artist? How did this war affect your relationship with art and the public?

Of course, the war causes a deep and transparent influence, not only on the artist but also on everything that surrounds him. It raises the general rhythm, disrupts the senses, and re -prioritizes. The war changes even the way to listen, makes the audience more retreat, less interactive, and sometimes more in need. The artist in this vortex finds himself restricting the place, in the psychological state, with the reality of harsh displacement, and the absence of daily coexistence that represents the original pulse of any artistic process.

Personally, I have always sang for clear values ​​and firm contents: against injustice, for freedom, and the bias of marginalized and hungry. But the war, with its surprising signature, forced me to go through an experience that I did not choose, the experience of displacement and the interruption of the roots, which made creativity itself enter into a stage of turmoil and lever. Inspiration needs to be embracing, and embrace is impossible in the midst of this destruction.

But of course, the delay in production does not mean absence, but it may be a moment of maturity. Good work is not necessarily produced at the height of the event. Sometimes, the moment you need to calm down to understand, to read it, then translate its effect technically. Inactivity and calm periods are an inherent part of the process of creation. The lack of production never means that the artist no longer has anything to present, but the opposite: perhaps what will come will be more mature and influential.

Do you see that the artist has a special role or moral responsibility during times of armed conflict?

Yes, and in a manner that does not accept interpretation. The artist has a special role and moral responsibility that grows in the time of crisis. But this is related first to the extent of the artist’s awareness of himself, to his tools, and the idea of ​​influence, whether immediate or accumulated. The artist who has a real awareness, cannot ignore the size of his voice, and that when art is humanly employed, it becomes a force of change, not just a recreational means.

I see that the artist should return the beautiful to the audience that he ascended to the platforms. To stand by people when they are burdened with war, to express them when they are besieged with silence and impotence. The artist’s voice is further, and the simplest is to use this voice to say what should be said. The issue is not just fame or pleasure, but an emotional commitment. “What is empty of the Ma’an is empty” – this is not only a phrase but a complete philosophy. You have to fill this value with value, with the situation, in fact.

During the war years, we witnessed a decline in peaceful songs in exchange for the escalation of songs expressing belonging to a party or glorifying the military discourse. What is your interpretation of this transformation?

It is not an innocent or natural transformation, but rather a result of systematic and thoughtful work. He who possesses military power and prepares for war with his booked, also preparing his speech, with his voice, with his art that serves the purpose. There are sounds made for this moment specifically, which were prepared to sing for war, not for peace

On the other hand, the artist who sings peace faces a war of another kind: intimidation, betrayal, abuse, defamation, and even exclusion. There are artists who do not belong to any party, who want to sing for peace, but they fear this violent attack, intimidation and treachery a weapon used against any artist who stood against these waterfalls, who are punished just because they did not sing to kill and glorify the destruction.

The voice of Sudanese art was in decisive historical stages in forming a collective conscience and calling for coexistence. Why does this sound today seem faint or absent?

Because from the beginning they knew the seriousness of art, and its supernatural ability to influence, and they launched an early war. The war against art started before the first shot, before the homeland was threatened with weapons. This war was to destroy the production environment, in the impoverishment of artists, in penetrating and distorting the artistic community, and in creating parallel currents of serious art bearing superficial or violent contents, I do not reject the difference in taste, but on the contrary I have a capacity to taste multiple forms, but I have a minimum: that this art has the ability to upgrade conscience. People in wartime are not “empty” to listen Any artistic product does not give me a minimum of beauty, I do not consider it an art and I cannot interact with it.

Do you think that self -censorship or the fear of political polarization prevented many artists from expressing their positions?

Yes, there are many artists who have become hostage to fear. Self -censorship here is not a weakness, but a natural result of a suffocating mode. Some of them are afraid of expression, and some of them go through an internal silence, in the process of absorption and emotional digestion of what is happening. But there is no doubt that fear exists, and it is also concept, in light of the general atmosphere full of repression and defamation. Many say in their interior: “Time is not a time of words,” so they resort to silence for safety.

What do you think of the idea of ​​artistic neutrality? Can the artist remain silent in existential issues such as war without being considered a position?

Silence in itself is a position. There is no real neutrality in a crucial moment as we live. But we must understand that silence sometimes has its causes, and it differs from one artist to another. There are those who are silent because he is going through a stage of assimilation, and there are those who are silent because he is wounded, and there are those who are silent because he feels that no one is listening, but in general, silence in exceptional moments is not luxury. You must express, in your own way, even if the studied silence, but it must be conscious.

Art and hate speech: During the war, songs of the war appeared and the opponent. Can it be classified as a hate speech?

certainly. These songs are the artistic expression of hate speech, and are used as a mobilization and incitement tool. Its effect is direct, and its danger is great. Because it wears the dress of art while it is in fact an expression of destructive tendency within the conflict.

Do you think that some artists contribute unconsciously to fueling the conflict? What distinguishes art resistant from incited art?

Yes, there are contributions without awareness, or partial awareness. The artist may be biased towards a camp with personal conviction, and he thinks that he thus practices his natural role. But when he does this without realizing the results of his position, he becomes a funeral tool. Resistant art carries the human being, seeking peace, trying to build a bridge, not a hole. As for the incited art, even if it seems successful for a moment, it does not win morally, the question is not only about the effect, but about the type of value it provides. Have you gave people hope, or contributed to deepening their wounds? Have you gave them art as consolation, or an additional lash that blows their backs? There is no end war, but there is an art that may contribute to ending wars, and an art that may make it more fierce, deadly and destroyed.

What is the extent of social media affecting songs that carry violence or emotional charging against the other?

Social media is no longer only platforms to display opinion or expression, but have turned into major tools in the battle of polarization and mobilization. It is not “just a means”, but rather the most effective machine in amplifying and promoting speeches, especially those that move the rapid emotion, such as songs that glorify weapons, the other side, and the souls are filled with hatred.

They are effective platforms in forming public opinion, not only because they are published, but because they repeat, restore, inflame and pull the audience towards emotional attraction. In the event of war, the lyric discourse shaved violence becomes more traded than rational discourse, because it addresses pain in the language of anger, not in the language of the Troy, and this is a great danger.

Nancy was known as a free and committed voice. Have you thought about launching an initiative or artistic project that expresses the suffering of the Sudanese and calls for the end of the war?

Yes, at the beginning of the war, there was a modest initiative, its idea was to hold parties that allocate its proceeds for the benefit of the displaced, as well as with others to collect donations in favor of the shelter, but it collided with many obstacles, technically there were many initiatives that resulted in the production of work entitled Ayoun Al -Shouf, from the words of the beautiful poet Qassem Abu Zaid. This work was a first attempt to say something amid this overwhelming destruction. There are still ideas and other projects that are formed, including what is music, including what is societal and human.

The idea for me was not only about “singing for peace” as a slogan, but singing for the human being, for the wounded, for the displaced, for the crowd, for those who lost their loved ones, homes and dreams. Expressing the suffering of people and their sympathy and extending the hand of moral help, is the responsibility of the artist, even if the implementation is delayed or the means are cut off.

What messages are you keen to deliver at this stage? What hinders its delivery amid this ruin?

My message is addressed to all Sudanese, inside or outside the country. For those who suffer from daily ugliness at home, or those who were displaced and struggled in exile. The suffering of the interior is clear, but it is not more harsh than the alienation that the refugee or immigrant lives in the burdens and responsibilities of his energy. The war did not exclude anyone, we all owe it with some kind.

In the midst of this sadness, I always try to remind the half of the cup – if any. This catastrophe revealed many masks, and exposed corruption and injustice as long as we were silent. We hope this hideous experience will set a new basis for building a more just and fair homeland. Change starts from knowledge, from erosion, from exposing ugliness, then resisting it, and then overcoming it.

How do you imagine the role of art in rebuilding Sudan after the war? Do you think that art has the ability to bridge the deep societal rift that the war left?

Yes, I see art a huge role in psychological and social restoration. Art is common memory, is nostalgia, and it is the language that goes beyond divisions. Whenever a person chooses to listen to an artist, he has opened his heart without knowing. Here, the healing journey begins

Artists, through their works, can regain the common sense among people, to remind them of those who were before the ruin, to open windows of light in the debris. We need an art that is unable to differentiate. An art that is raised on the wound, not to raise it, an art that restores us to believe that life is possible after all this ugliness.

During your artistic career, you encountered harassment and defamation campaigns due to your positions. Who do you think is behind it?

Behind her, those who do not want to hear the free sound. They cannot tolerate a voice that reminds them that there are humanitarian alternatives, that art is not a tool of armies, but rather a space for thinking, beauty and conscience. These are systematic campaigns, which are managed by media tools and electronic battalions whose primary goal is to make a directed public opinion, welcomes what is required and excludes everything that is not desirable by them. They see in the different artist a threat, because they want to monopolize even conscience, they want an art that resembles their speeches, not similar to people.

Do you think your positions were the main reason for your targeting?

Certainly. I do not belong to any political party, but I belong to an idea: to be against oppression, injustice, discrimination and killing. If this position is considered political, let it be. But whoever targeted me does not bother him with my political position from a party, but rather bothering that I have an impressive voice, and that I present an art that carries value, reaches people, and reminds them that there is a wider life than the narrow camps. What annoys them is that I present an artistic and aesthetic memory that confuses their tactical discourse, and is confused about their disgraced novel. For this, it became a goal.

How did these campaigns affect your artistic career and activity inside and outside Sudan?

War and campaigns affected me as it affected everyone. I stopped projects, disrupted plans, and the rhythm I was working with before. But I believe that every crisis carries new opportunities. Lord is harmful. This ordeal prompted me to reconsider the work methods, in the tools, and in the sense of being an artist in a separate moment in the country’s history.

I started the widest circle of thinking, and I think outside the box. I am looking for new tools, and perhaps more deep and effective.

Have you thought about stopping or moving away because of these campaigns?

never. Quite the opposite, this circumstance is the moment when I should be present and strongly. It is inconceivable to be present in the time of safety, and I am absent when people need me. If I possess the ability, the means, and the sound, it is unfair to withdraw while others do not have the tools that the artist possesses, and they have become a trumpet for war, death and ruin.

The absence at this time is a violation, and I believe that the real commitment does not appear in the comfortable moments, but rather when existence is costly and difficult.

Have you received after the war any direct threat? And if it happens, did you take it seriously?

So far, I have not received a direct threat, whether or after the war. But there are indirect behaviors, harassment, attempts to negative energy, exhaust you and consume your energy and mood. Sometimes you find yourself explaining and justifying your friends or followers to explain that the campaigns are nothing but noise that is not worth stopping. Some situations require a response or clarification, especially for the eyes that trust you, and wait for you to see a picture that deserves love and support, which consumes your time and energy. But I often deal with all these details with a great deal of calm and ignorance. It is also said: “The condolence ends with the end of the burial ceremony.”

Quoted from (a new horizon)