BERLIN: Arab musicians in Berlin are bringing their musical roots to Germans — with a little help from American jazz.
At the monthly Arab Song Jam in the German capital, musicians use famous Arab songs as a starting point before inviting other musicians onto the stage for a jam session in a style pioneered by American jazz musicians before World War II.
“All musicians know these jazz sessions. So we use that technique on Arab songs,” said Moroccan musician Alaa Zouiten, who plays the oud, and who led a recent session. “It is a great idea because it brings popular Arab songs to life here in Berlin.”
Berlin’s already large Arab community has grown since 2015 with the arrival of tens of thousands of refugees from Syria.
That has led to an increased interest in Arab culture and music in the city, said Philippa Ebene, CEO and artistic director of “Werkstatt der Kulturen” — the “Cultural Workshop” — where the jam sessions are held.
“We have all these new Berliners from the Arab world and they brought their music with them,” she said. “At the same time, Berlin is a city that is always hungry for new culture.”
The Arab Song Jam is part of a yearlong celebration of Arab culture at the venue, also including poetry readings and Arab film nights.
The first jam session was held in March and it has become so popular that the basement venue often has to close its doors because it has reached its capacity. The audience is mixed — elderly Arab couples mingle with young European hipsters and groups of curious, middle-aged Germans. “Is there a singer in the house?” Zouiten asks the crowd after the first song, and several people raise their hands.
Milo Kanefaty from Syria joins the musicians on the stage and as he sings the first words of a song by famous Lebanese singer Fairuz, the crowd cheers wildly and sings along. Soon people start dancing, hugging and applauding.
At other sessions, Germans from the audience also join in. While Zouiten said he does not want to turn the Arab Song Jam into a political event, he does hope the music will help break down barriers between migrants and Germans who remain concerned about the large influx of newcomers.
Jazz it up: Arab musicians bring their songs to Germany
Jazz it up: Arab musicians bring their songs to Germany
St. Francis relics go on public show for first time in Italy
Assisi, Italy: Saint Francis of Assisi’s skeleton is going on public display from Sunday for the first time for the 800th anniversary of his death, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Inside a nitrogen-filled plexiglass case with the Latin inscription “Corpus Sancti Francisci” (The Body of St. Francis), the remains are being shown in the Italian hill town’s Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
St. Francis, who died on October 3, 1226, founded the Franciscan order after renouncing his wealth and devoting his life to the poor.
Giulio Cesareo, director of communications for the Franciscan convent in Assisi said he hoped the display could be “a meaningful experience” for believers and non-believers alike.
Cesareo, a Franciscan friar, said the “damaged” and “consumed” state of the bones showed that St. Francis “gave himself completely” to his life’s work.
His remains, which will be on display until March 22, were transferred to the basilica built in the saint’s honor in 1230.
But it was only in 1818, after excavations carried out in utmost secrecy, that his tomb was rediscovered.
Apart from previous exhumations for inspection and scientific examination, the bones of Saint Francis have only been displayed once, in 1978, to a very limited public and for just one day.
Usually hidden from view, the transparent case containing the relics since 1978 was brought out on Saturday from the metal coffer in which it is kept, inside his stone tomb in the crypt of the basilica.
The case is itself inside another bullet-proof and anti-burglary glass case.
Surveillance cameras will operate 24 hours a day for added protection of the remains.
St. Francis is Italy’s patron saint and the 800th anniversary commemorations of his death will also see the restoration of an October 4 public holiday in his honor.
The holiday had been scrapped nearly 50 years ago for budget reasons.
Its revival is also a tribute to late pope Francis who took on the saint’s name.
Pope Francis died last year at the age of 88.
‘Not a movie set’
Reservations to see the saint’s remains already amount to “almost 400,000 (people) coming from all parts of the world, with of course a clear predominance from Italy,” said Marco Moroni, guardian of the Franciscan convent.
“But we also have Brazilians, North Americans, Africans,” he added.
During this rather quiet time of year, the basilica usually sees 1,000 visitors per day on weekdays, rising to 4,000 on weekends.
The Franciscans said they were expecting 15,000 visitors per day on weekdays and up to 19,000 on Saturdays and Sundays for the month-long display of the remains.
“From the very beginning, since the time of the catacombs, Christians have venerated the bones of martyrs, the relics of martyrs, and they have never really experienced it as something macabre,” Cesareo said.
What “Christians still venerate today, in 2026, in the relics of a saint is the presence of the Holy Spirit,” he said.
Another church in Assisi holds the remains of Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager who died in 2006 and who was canonized in September by Pope Leo XIV.
Experts said the extended display of St. Francis’s remains should not affect their state of preservation.
“The display case is sealed, so there is no contact with the outside air. In reality, it remains in the same conditions as when it was in the tomb,” Cesareo said.
The light, which will remain subdued in the church, should also not have an effect.
“The basilica will not be lit up like a stadium,” Cesareo said. “This is not a movie set.”
