Afghanistan National Institute of Music explained

Established:	June 20, 2010
Head Name:	Director
Head:	Dr. Ahmad Naser Sarmast
City:	Kabul, Afghanistan (until 2021) Lisbon, Portugal (since 2021)
Homepage:	http://www.anim-music.org/

The Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) is an exiled school of music that was formerly operated in Kabul, Afghanistan and is currently based in Lisbon, Portugal.^[1] It was founded in 2010 by the Afghan-Australian ethnomusicologist Dr. Ahmad Naser Sarmast, and offers a curriculum combining the tuition of both Afghan and Western music. ANIM is a co-educational institute.

Per an agreement between Sarmast and the Afghan Ministry of Education, the school accommodates both exceptionally talented students and underprivileged children.

History

In 2006, Dr. Ahmad Naser Sarmast, then a Research Fellow at the Monash School of Music and Asia Institute, of Australia's Monash University, returned to Afghanistan to assess the situation after many years of living in exile.^[2] A second trip was made in 2007 to discuss the implementation of the pilot project with the Afghan authorities and more precisely, the rebuilding of music education through establishing a dedicated music school for disadvantaged Afghan children. In April 2008, after two years of negotiations with Afghan authorities, Sarmast went again to Afghanistan to lead and implement the establishment of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM).

In 2013, ANIM's Afghan Youth Orchestra toured the United States, including performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.

In 2014, a suicide bomb attack at a student concert killed an audience member and the bomber,^[3] and injured many more; Sarmast himself was injured and lost some of his hearing.^{[4] [5] [6]}

In 2015, the first Afghan female conductor, 17-year-old Negin Khpalwak, held her first concert with an all-female ensemble.^{[7] [8]}, a third of the 250 students are female and the proportion is growing; in 2019, Sarmast took the all-female Zohra Orchestra on a European tour.

In 2018, the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and Sarmast were awarded the Polar Music Prize.^[9]

After the Taliban takeover on 15 August 2021, the school's musical instruments were destroyed and ANIM's administrators and students relocated to Lisbon, Portugal.^[10]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mirna Alsharif . Marc Smith . The Taliban tried to silence these young musicians. Now they’re playing Carnegie Hall. . NBC News . 13 August 2024 . 8 August 2024.
2. Web site: Our History. 2021-04-28. Afghanistan National Institute of Music ANIM. en-AU.
3. News: Rasmussen. Sune Engel. 2015-05-25. He was the saviour of Afghan music. Then a Taliban bomb took his hearing. The Guardian. 2020-07-04. 0261-3077.
4. Web site: Ahmad Zahir: The enduring appeal of the Afghan Elvis . BBC - Culture . December 6, 2018 . December 11, 2018 . Haider . Arwa.
5. Web site: Afghanistan's first female conductor. Shaimaa. Khalil. 10 November 2015. 10 December 2018. BBC News.
6. Web site: The Day Afghan Music Didn't Die . Bezhan . Frud . . August 9, 2015 . 21 January 2021.
7. Web site: Girls find their Place in Afghanistan's Music Institute. World Bank. 10 December 2018.
8. Web site: Afghan woman defies odds to pursue her dream . 6 August 2016 . Deutsche Welle. 10 December 2018.
9. Web site: The Afghanistan National Institute of Music . Polar Music Prize . 21 January 2021.
10. Web site: Talmazan. Yuliya. Afghanistan's only music school completes exit from Kabul fearing Taliban crackdown. NBC News. 15 August 2023. 18 November 2021.