Shafaq News- Erbil<\/em><\/p>\nA solo sitar concert inspired by the Kurdish literary classic Mem and Zin was held in Erbil on Saturday, bringing poetry from one of Kurdistan’s most celebrated works to the stage through instrumental and vocal performances.<\/p>\n
Musician Dana Muhyi Al-Din performed original compositions based on verses from the 17th-century epic by Kurdish poet Ahmad Khani, transforming its poetry into musical pieces that drew an enthusiastic response from the audience.<\/p>\n
The concert, hosted at the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Culture, attracted artists, writers, academics, foreign guests and members of Erbil’s cultural community. It was organized by the Goethe-Institut, which said the event aimed to promote cultural dialogue through the arts.<\/p>\n
Written in 1695, Mem and Zin is regarded as the best-known work of classical Kurdish literature. The epic recounts the tragic love story of Mem, a young man from the Botan tribe, and Zin, the sister of a Kurdish prince, and has long been considered a symbol of Kurdish cultural identity. Its author, Ahmad Khani (1650\u20131707), was a Kurdish poet, philosopher, and scholar whose literary and intellectual legacy remains a cornerstone of Kurdish classical literature.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n