Many Gaza musicians struggle to find career opportunities to improve their skills and display their talents. Instead, they have to find ways to escape. At the Delia Arts Foundation, we are working towards building the necessary infrastructure so they can develop these talents.  

In this article – written by our team in Gaza Marwa Mhanna and Ayman Mghamis – we want to introduce you to one of these talents: Anas Salam.

“The Delia Arts Center is finally here!” – it was the first thing Anas said when he arrived at our space in the heart of Gaza city. He is one of the first musicians we are hosting since our ‘soft opening’ during the pandemic. Even in such a challenging period, we are slowly starting to receive musicians in the center and facilitate their logistical needs.

Anas Salam is one of the many musicians in Gaza who were super excited about our project!

“The Delia Arts Center is an opportunity for me. The center provides musical space and a recording studio, and workshops to learn more about music theories. We’ve always dreamed of having such a center in Gaza, especially as it is a support source without spending money to record songs and use the studio. I have a background in playing the piano, but I aspire to learn to play other instruments, learn composition, and sound engineering through the center. I was not able to learn it on my own through the internet because I do not have my own laptop.”

Anas is 21 years old. He was born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp and started his life as an artist in 2005 when he was still a young kid. He sings, composes and he wishes to learn music arrangement.

Anas did not have professional training as a singer. His father is musically well-educated, and he is his influence. He plays Ney, and he taught him all music scales and singing, which encouraged Anas to know more about the world of music and art.

“I only finished high school. I didn’t go to college because of my family’s financial situation. I’d love to study sound engineering and composition, or anything related to audio,  but unfortunately, this major is not available in Gaza.”

His first steps into the recording studio were the moments he decided to enter the music world. He loved it so much and immediately made up his mind about working in this field.

Gaza strip is a challenging place if you want to develop any sort of career path, but especially in music. The economic situation and the Israeli blockade create the struggles of everyday life.

Anas’s passion for music pushed him to work on himself. He has the ability to conduct vocalese and music scale training for singers and evaluate them.

“I was a voluntary vocalese and Arabic scale trainer several times, but I can’t keep doing it without getting paid, the only time I got paid was with the ministry of endowments, and I only got 600 shekels (about USD180) for a 2-month training. The only way I can get paid for performing my music is when I sing at wedding parties. Unfortunately, such work is only in the summertime. Nowadays, with the pandemic, it is impossible to organize weddings. This situation directly affected my other colleagues and me, who work in this field.”

“I dream of participating in the TV show The Voice, but the ongoing blockade of Gaza and the financial situation of my family make it almost impossible. I just want my voice to be heard. That’s my only dream, merely that.”

Anas is only one example of many other musicians struggling to find a good opportunity in Gaza and different conflict zones worldwide. 

At the Delia Arts Foundation, we hope that we can create opportunities for these artists through our activities and support them in building their dreams.

If you are interested in supporting talents such as Anas, and the Delia Arts Center in Gaza, please donate here.