AUSTRALIAN
CARING FOR REFUGEES
PATRON-IN-CHIEF
His Excellency the Governor-
General of Australia
MEDIA
RELEASE
3
JANUARY 2002
AFGHANISTAN'S KING OF POP TOURS AUSTRALIA PERFORMING
AT HIS FUNDRAISING "I AM COLD! " CONCERTS
Farhad
Darya, known as Darya was born in Afghanistan in 1962 and grew up
to become the most prominent voice of contemporary music in Afghanistan.
After five years of countrywide silence in Afghanistan, Darya's
hit single Beloved Kabul was broadcast on radio Afghanistan on November
13th 2001- jubilant Afghans were dancing in the streets of the capital
city to his music. Darya believes " music is the strongest
weapon we have. It moves in a minute and everyone can follow it.
And everyone knows the power of the music, even Taliban! "
Darya
first appeared on Afghan TV 1980, just after the first year of the
Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Darya stands for his wounded
and oppressed people, and his career parallels the Afghan nations
suffering of the last two decades.
From
1989 to 1990 Darya has released more than 15 albums in Afghanistan,
and from 1990 to 2001, 13 albums while in exile. He has performed
sold out concerts in the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, France,
Sweden, Denmark Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Turkey and Italy
with the aim to keep Afghan culture, music, and hope alive.
Darya
has written 50% of the top Afghan hit of the last two decades .
. . in and out of the country. Darya has repeatedly received the
best singer of the year in Afghanistan and in exile, most recently
in the summer of the 2001 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Darya has been
in exile since fleeing to Prague then Hamburg in 1990 and since
95 has lived in Virginia in the USA.
For
the last two decades, Darya has tried to mind a torn and disconnected
Afghan nation through music, and is known for being the most daring
and potent modern musician in the Afghan resist. He has sought to
reconnect an isolated people to the rest of the world. In response
to the current critical situation in Afghanistan, he has planned
a worldwide benefit tour " I AM COLD! " to raise
funds to help the dying Afghan children.
Money
raised from his Melbourne and Sydney concerts will be donated to
AUSTCARE's Afghan Emergency appeal. The Melbourne concert
will be on 5 January at the Camberwell Civic Center, tickets
are $30 contact Nasim Noor on 0402 475 769 and on the 12 January
in Sydney white palace in Granville, Tickets are $30, contact Basir
Aria on 0418 452 073.
Since
1967, Austcare has been mobilizing support for refugees and displaced,
including those affected by natural disaster to assisting them to
meet their basic needs and build better lives. For more information
on AUSTCARE's work see http://www.austcare.org.au/ and to
donate to their Afghan Emergency Appeal call
1300 66 66 72
For media interviews only contact Elise Hawthorne @ EXPOSURE
Communications on
O2 9600 9528 / 0413 363 232 or [email protected]
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