Editor’s Note

My name is Marjan Asadullah, and I started Echoes of Afghan Music as my way of helping to preserve Afghanistan’s musical heritage while there is a ban on music in Afghanistan. I’ve spent countless hours trying to figure out who to talk to, how to present these stories, and wondering if anyone would care to listen. I eventually decided to stop thinking and just do it. 

For the past year, I was interviewing, researching, writing, editing, and sharing the stories behind Afghanistan’s musical heritage. It was a privilege to share these voices and a responsibility I didn’t take lightly. 

As a journalist, I have always believed that preserving culture is also a form of reporting. As an Afghan, I knew this story was more than a headline. I hope this project has contributed, in however small a way, to ensuring that Afghanistan’s musical heritage is contextualized and understood beyond its entertainment value.

As we’ve entered the fifth consecutive year of this unjustified ban, my hope is that through the stories shared in this project, we learned that Afghan music won’t stop and certainly won’t disappear. Its melodies will continue wherever Afghans carry them and in the memories of those who refuse to let them disappear.

I want to sincerely thank you for following this project, specifically to those who contributed their time, stories, and knowledge.

May the echoes of Afghan music continue beyond the confines of this project.