after the canal tour, i attended a musical presentation hosted and shaped by a fairly famous (immigrant) dutch author. it, too, was unique.i knew little about the concert before arriving - other than that it was free and that it was part of the Grachtenfestival, which i had wanted to attend more events from.
when i walked into the presentation, somber, chanting music was playing in a language i didn't recognize. i found out shortly that it was from the Koran [a call to worship, i think]. such an introduction made me uncomfortable.
but as the event progressed, i became aware that the event had less to do with Islamic faith proper and more to do with some cultural elements. the author had created a new dutch translation of the Koran because it was part of his family heritage. i sense that we should be open to different cultural and religious elements but yet, tolerance and appreciation is as far as it should go. a respect for the beliefs and a willingness to commit to the beliefs therein were not emphasized - as shown by the translation seen as only a good thing without ever acknowledging the official Muslim teaching is that the Koran is untranslatable and must be read in the original language. and this made me uncomfortable on another level - as much as i do not believe that Muslim is the true faith, i do want to respect others' beliefs enough to take them seriously. one's beliefs are not simply a nice cultural experience. i believe religious beliefs ought to shape one's life, not simply add a nice flavour to it - a flavour that one can mix and match depending on one's mood and needs.
but despite the sense that there was underlying assumption in the presentation that i disagreed with, i generally enjoyed it. the presentation was shaped by a story of an immigrant coming to the Netherlands - and becoming a great writer. the author who told the story did a great job, showing a high competency in the dutch language but still speaking in a way that i could generally understand most of it. and the musicians were amazing. the music was a strange mixture of 20thcentury dissonant and non-rhythmic compositions beside more harmonic pieces with instruments that do not always play together. i found the former somewhat fascinating and the latter to be beautiful. and the talent the accordian players were absolutely phenomenal. being able to move both hands so quickly along the keys and buttons, while also holding onto a fairly weighty and unwieldly instrument takes obvious skill.
but then there was the belly dancer. whereas the musical performances had been quite brief, this dragged on. perhaps my lack of appreciation is due to a limited exposure to belly dancing (or an overexposure to the Red Light District), but i could not see in it the same level of artistic arrangement and talent as found in the other performances. and it took away from the story as a whole.
and the whole performance seemed to be very unique - and this seemed typical of Amsterdam. and at some times it can be naive or vain or excessive. but there is still a distinct flavour to this city and the people here - it will probably always puzzle me slightly and i won't quite fit (nor always appreciate it). but this strange and delightful city is the place i have chosen to call home - perhaps because i don't really fit anywhere and here not fitting is in theory a positive quality.
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