Holland Festival: Qaqnas

What does freedom mean for women today? Qaqnas is a powerful, musical ode to that question. This new opera places voice, electronics and resistance at its center. Inspired by the slogan Jin, Jiyan, Azadî (woman, life, freedom) – that originated in the Kurdish women’s movement and gained global recognition after the protests in Iran – Qaqnas shows how fragile freedom truly is. Composer Huba de Graaff often writes experimental opera's and explores the boundary between speech and music in Qaqnas: what kind of music emerges when singing in a forbidden language? Naaz Mohammad, Naaz in short, is a Dutch-Kurdisch singer-songwriter who brings deeply personal lyrics, often layered with a lot of emotional depth. This performance takes place in a kitchen that doubles as an electronic music studio. Here, a fully female cast operates the equipment themselves. They sing in Kurdish – a language long forbidden, now sounding loud, proud, and unrestrained. The opera is based on a poem by Kurdish poet Tarza Jaff and tells the story of women who dare to leave, who take flight – and pay the price for it. Qaqnas fuses DIY kitchen electronics with opera, poetry with energy, intimacy with rebellion. A thrilling performance about strength, solidarity, and claiming space. On Saturday, June 13, there will be an aftertalk with Huba de Graaff. vocals Naaz composition Huba de Graaff electronics Huba de Graaff music performed by Nora Mulder, Khabat Abas, Mei-Yi Lee direction Ria Marks lighting design Varja Klosse kostuums Leila el Alaoui