Transit Radio

Torshov transittmottak har siden 2004 knyttet til seg flere hundre frivillige gjennom sport, musikk og kulturelle arrangementer, og spesielt Vårt Nabolagsfestivalen som arrangeres av Oslo World har vært et høydepunkt. Men i år skal mottaket legges ned, beboerne skal flyttes og de ansatte må finne seg nye jobber. Denne episoden er del to av et forsøk på å dokumentere en plass, mennesker og hverdagsrutiner som nå må vike vei for forberedelser til å avslutte alt sammen. Stor takk til alle beboere og ansatte ved Torshov Transittmottak, Oslo World, Shwan, Karam, Edin, Fahim og Vårt Nabolagsfestivalen.

Oppe på en liten knaus sentralt i Oslo ligger Torshov Transittmottak. Det ser ut som en grønn øy midt blant boligblokker og klassiske bygårder. Snart er det tid for musikkfestivalen Vårt Nabolag, der beboere og folk fra området treffes og hører på musikk sammen. Snart skal mottaket legges ned. I denne episoden samles det lyder og stemmer som tilsammen skaper en særegen plass på Torshov. Det er en dokumentasjon og en lydcollage på et sted som snart ikke finnes lenger. Stor takk til beboerne og personalet ved Torshov Transittmottak, Oslo som står bak festivalen Vårt Nabolag, samt MakersHub og fotballklubben Skeid.

Kinesiske turister betaler 10.000 euro for å se den kongeblå Hardangerfjorden, men de som bor på mottaket har kommet hit ufrivillig. To av asylsøkerne som bor på mottaket kommer til å få opphold, men når festivalen Vårt Nabolag er fire dager unna vet de ikke hvem. Stor takk til alle beboere ved Ullensvang Asylmottak, samt Oslo World som står bak festivalen Vårt Nabolag.

In this final episode of transit radio you will meet Vasuky Jayapalan and some of her students as they rehearse and learn more about Tamil music and culture. Vasuky Jayapalan came to Norway in 1991 and spent 12 years learning and understanding the Norwegian system for working within the cultures, all to bring her Tamil background to a larger audience. She has released several CD´s and played large concerts both as a solo artist and in collaboration with other artists. With her extensive background in music she now works to bridge the Tamil and Norwegian culture, teaching traditional music, dance and arts to her students. But has music changed for her since settling down in a new country? What does music mean to her now, and what purpose does it serve?

In Harstad city there is a choir called Hope, with members from the local community together with newly arrived refugees. They have shared lullabies from their different countries to record them in a studio. The personal and emotional experience of singing some of the most beautiful words they know, meets a huge contrast when politics makes a different ending to this story.

In Torshov Transittmottak in Oslo asylum seekers stay for only a few weeks, waiting for their interview which will decide whether they may stay or not. A lot of waiting, in a limbo between a clear past and a blurry future. But how do they keep the spirit up through the waiting time? Listening to music.

In episode 7 of Transit Radio you will meet two artists, both new in Norway but with very different stories. Zia Mushini came alone from Afghanistan as a refugee. After only singing by himself his whole childhood he suddenly finds himself in the start of a hip hop career. Hassan Al-Mustafa is blind and was a famous artist in Syria when growing up. When war broke out in his country there was no time for playing anymore and he left to Norway. Will music return to his life?

Just like people cross borders, so does music. And for many people, music is a key component of their lives. In episode 6 of Transit Radio you will meet Abigail and Felix who both sing in a choir in Levanger called Kveldskoret. Over two cold November evenings Kveldskoret was joined by Sheldon Blackman and the soul rebels for the purpose of coming together and make music flow across linguistic and cultural borders.

The kids here are a lot more attached and observant to the lyrics. I don’t think a lot of Norwegian kids care that much about that. They know them, but they don’t care or understand what the lyrics are about. During a long and often dangerous road for refugees, the mobile phone is vital for navigating borders and getting the information that you need. But can it also be a way to connect you to your memories? In episode 5 of Transit Radio you will meet some of the teenagers living at the Hvalstad transit center, just outside of Oslo. Being far away from home, alone in a foreign country, they share the music that is important to them.

In episode 4 of Transit Radio you will get to hear the voice of Mahsa Vahdat a couple of days before her performance at the Oslo World Music Festival. She is an acclaimed iranian artist and singer who has an audience all over the world, but is not allowed to sing in her own country.

In episode 3 of Transit Radio you get to meet percussionist Nasra Omar who started a project with the simple idea that people can meet and bond with the help of music, even though the resources are scarce. You’ll also meet a young girl, dreaming of the opportunity to dance.

In episode 2 of Transit Radio you will get to hear the voice of «Mohammed» and «Rafiq», who have fled from, and with music. In addition you´ll also meet Abazar Hamid who left his band Agd Elgalad, the self-proclaimed «the Beatles of Sudan» behind, and is now leading music workshops under the protection of Safemuse.

The first episode visits the workshops done by Khaled Harara and Monirah Hashemi to empower young refugees in Karlstad, Sweden.