Turquoise Harmony Institute concert at Linder Auditorium aims to change refugee narrative
Turquoise Harmony Institute was awarded the Pioneers in SDGs Project Stakeholders Award at the UNGA Conference in New York.
Hope, awareness and advocacy are characteristics the Turquoise Harmony Institute (THI) aims to highlight in its concert at the Linder Auditorium.
Spokesperson and director of THI Ayhan Cetin said, “The concert aims to raise awareness of the plight of the numerous people on the African continent and around the world who have been chased from their homes, forgotten, and misplaced by others.”
Cetin added some of South Africa’s top acts would be featured live and streamed online.
“The concert will feature leading artists including Msaki and Sipho Hotstix Mabuse. During the evening, leading SA composer Neill Solomon’s new song Homeland, produced by JB Arthur at the Flame Studios at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, will be publicly launched.
“We want people to think ‘what if I was in their shoes, what would life look like? Could I face the sometimes insurmountable challenges and daily struggles they face?’.
“With these concerts our aim is to reframe the refugee experience, shifting the debate away from refugee statistics and refocusing on the attitudes of those who may not be sure who refugees even are, creating connections through common experiences and increased understanding.”
He added the 2019 concert set a new precedent for social justice workers around the world, and THI was awarded the pioneers in Sustainable Development Goals Project Stakeholders Award at the United Nations General Assembly Conference in New York.
“Through awareness and funds raised, THI was able to start various projects including the Social and Economic Integration of Refugee Women in South Africa, in which French-speaking refugees who were forcibly displaced from their home countries were given English classes.”
The concert will take place on August 12 from 19:00 to 21:30. Tickets for the show are R200 and any amount raised will be used towards helping refugees in South Africa through respected charities such as Gift of the Givers and THI’s programmes.
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