Ictus et le Music Fund,
déclaration d'intention (en français)

On this page
•Notes by Lukas Pairon (director) resumed and presented by S. Ginsburgh (in English) (2002)
 

Other texts
•Report : Lukas Pairon, february 2003  - In English  Nederlandse versie
•the travel report of François Deppe, ictus cellist (en français), 2002
•the travel report of Tom Bruwier, ictus production (in het Nederlands)
•Notes by Tom Pauwels (guitarist)
•Press clip from HAARETZ, December 15th, 2003
•Georges-Elie Octors : cours de percussion en Afrique du Sud et au Mozambique
•Miquel Bernat: Suite de memorias de africa (south Africa, Mozambic)

On the Music Fund website : last Pairon's blog

•General presentation and report of the Lukas Pairon's travel, by Stephane Ginsburgh, August 2002

A trip by oneself
aLukas Pairon, director of the Brussels based contemporary music group Ictus, left for a one-week well-prepared trip to Israel and Palestine in July 2002. Travelling with a full agenda, lots people to meet, and the whole background of his group’s activities he had no precise project in his head. He knew that it was certainly not going to be the usual concert-hunting trip that directors are supposed work on. In June, the original group with which Pairon was to travel was dislocated. Encouraged by friends in Belgium, he had to face the not too reassuring decision to go by himself to a country he only knew through documents and in the middle of a very delicate situation. He had planned to call and meet people representing the musical world, in Jerusalem, Tel--Aviv and if possible, Ramallah upon arrival, schedule and organize his time according to the results. But besides encouragement, there was another strong motivation: Pairon insists on the fact that his Academic background - especially his philosophy studies in Lugano (Switzerland) and his BA in educational and political science at the University of Paris VIII - widened his ideas about the world and has always filled him with deep curiosity and admiration for Israel. It is noticeable that his ideas on the subject of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are much more balanced than the usual one-sided opinion people have around him. He therefore had decided to avoid cooperating with people not open to projects including both communities. Taking into account the differences between Israel and Palestine is another way of understanding Pairon’s motivation. He considers Belgium as an ‘easy’ country, where it is possible for different communities to communicate and work together. This is less and less the case in Israel and Palestine. What many would consider as a drawback: Provincialism, turns out to be an advantage for Belgium, a country open to communication and influence. This is also why he considered his trip as a very special gift of enrichment for himself, and in the future, for the group and its collaborators wherever they are.

Speaking to the right people and nurturing the project
Pairon recognizes that every meeting during his heavy week was interesting at some point, even if nothing concrete came out of it. Many people gave him insights of the life and the growing despair in Israel, the daily difficulties generated by the occupation in Palestine. Some meetings were really personal and warm encounters with outstanding personalities. Despite his full agenda and days passing, Pairon was not absolutely sure to be able to build anything. What made it even more complicated is that it was not supposed to end up with a classical-type or artificial collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian musicians, but a real immersion in one aspect of musical life with the participation of Ictus and preferably contacts with different members of the civil society. One of the first decisive meetings of the week was with Uri Ben David, director of the Cultural Center for Peace (located in Kibbutz Mizra near Nazareth) which promotes joint Israeli-Palestinian projects. In addition to a very interesting exchange and sharing of experiences, Ben David lead Pairon to the Aboud brothers, two active young musicians and to Amer Nakhleh, a guitarist, director of a private music school (Sefaram, in the North-East of Nazareth). Nakhleh’s school, teaching traditional as well as Arab folk music, counts now 150 students and is in search of State recognition and help. Eventually, Pairon came to his crucial appointment with Suhail Khoury – Head of the National Conservatory of Palestine - in Jerusalem, two days before leaving the country.

The National Conservatory of Palestine
The National Conservatory of Music is a dynamic Music school, founded in 1993 and affiliated to the Birzeit University. It has branches in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Bethlehem and thinks of developing new ones in Nablus and Gaza in the near future. Although working in collaboration with the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, most of its funding comes from national and international private sources and the school is proud of its independence in internal and academic affairs. Suhail Khury, head of the School, claims that up to 60% of its 400 students have scholarships but underlines the lack of professors and the fact that there is no recording studio, an obviously useful tool for music students. One immediately thinks of musicians from Russian origin who immigrated to Israel and could, hopefully one day, take up some of the teaching positions. The school’s goals are mainly musical training, with both classical music and Palestinian folk music departments, aimed at professionals as well as amateurs. It proposes a ten years program divided in three levels (preparatory, primary and intermediate) and will open in a few years a University level program. In a beautiful colored brochure introducing the school, its programs and activities, the text emphasizes the necessity for underprivileged youngsters to study music. Their training would be supported special scholarships such as the Marcel Khalife fund, awarded to exceptional young talents, regardless of their background.

The workshop project
The conversation between Pairon and Khoury unveiled the strong needs of the school: A long term educational project on an international basis, more teachers, and the possibility for students to pursue their musical studies abroad. Ictus, as a contemporary music group, is familiar with the organization of workshops, which can take different aspects. This workshop formula is usually proposed to a chosen public, which has a strong desire to understand, for example, the work of a particular composer. In this case, a selected group of students would work with musicians from the ensemble on a chosen repertoire (not exclusively contemporary) or on a composer. Beginning in October 2002 and running until May 2003, there would be five workshops organized in one of the Conservatory’s branches. Two to three musicians (from the ensemble that counts around twenty) would spend a total of seven days abroad. Five full days would be spent on the venue of the Conservatory, working with students and the two remaining days used to broaden contacts within Israel, to share and develop the experience. Using contacts made during his stay, Pairon hopes that musicians will be able to visit a place like Kibbutz Mizra’s Cultural Center for Peace, other music schools eager to develop joint projects or to meet individual musicians. He does not consider this as a charity action, and although he never forgets how much this can bring to students, he claims that the experience is also worthwhile and enriching for musicians of the ensemble. This is only a beginning, and there is the strong hope to develop collaborations with Israeli schools, to create a network of musicians, to restore contacts not only between the two neighbors but also with the outside world.