Poets explore how the artform can unite people on different sides of conflict

A story is often told to illustrate how central poetry is to Yemeni culture: that of the visit of a famous lute player from Baghdad.

He was invited to play in Sana’a, where he performed enchanting and technically brilliant music for an hour. But when he stopped, the audience waited for the musician to start talking. Without any poetry, they thought, the entertainment could not possibly be over yet.

Sung and recited poetry is loved all over the Arab world, but especially so in Yemen. It is important for special occasions such as weddings and historical events, but also has a function in everyday life as part of dispute mediations between tribes and as a form of political and social commentary.

The millennia-old tradition is still thriving. In the 2011 Arab spring protests, ancient and new compositions were chanted in the streets of Sana’a. Even now, four years into Yemen’s civil war, established poets and emerging young writers are exploring how the art form can unite people on different sides of the war’s many fault lines.

“We have to say what we feel and what life is like in war, and what life was like before it. That’s what poetry is for,” said 20-year-old Aisha al-Jaedy, a student from Hadramaut who writes on the themes of women and peace. “It’s our job to give this message to the world.”

Jaedy volunteered for a recent project called In the Land of Shattered Windows, which involved nine young poets from different parts of Yemen writing in the tradition of balah, long poems composed and performed competitively or as part of a dialogue.
Jaedy volunteered for a recent project called In the Land of Shattered Windows, which involved nine young poets from different parts of Yemen writing in the tradition of balah, long poems composed and performed competitively or as part of a dialogue.


None of the participants had met, but they were connected in pairs in order to communicate what life was like for people on opposite sides of the conflict, exchanging audio recordings of original poems via WhatsApp. The result was deeply moving portraits of young Yemenis’ lives.


“We wanted to update the poetic tradition, make it younger and cooler,” said organiser Ibi Ibrahim, the founder of the Romooz Foundation, a new independent non-profit based in Sana’a dedicated to promoting and developing Yemeni art and culture.

“When I moved back to Yemen last year, it was astonishing for me to really see and internalise how life goes on despite the war.

Outsiders think of Yemen as death and war and conflict. That is absolutely true.

But what we are aiming to do is create another narrative that shows our humanity and resilience.