Portugal will host the Afghanistan School of Music – World
Defense Minister João Gomes Cravinho announced this Monday that Portugal will become the headquarters of the Music School of Afghanistan (ANIM, in English) as part of a humanitarian emergency in that country.
The members of ANIM (National Institute of Music of Afghanistan) are part of a group of 273 Afghans who have arrived in Portugal today, bringing to 764 citizens of that country sheltered in Portuguese territory.
“We are going to receive in Portugal, we are going to transfer the National Institute of Music of Afghanistan to Portugal, which is an institution very well known internationally”, stated João Gomes Cravinho.
The Portuguese official was speaking to a group of journalists from Portuguese media in Guinea-Bissau, as part of his two-day working visit, explained today.
The Portuguese Defense Minister also noted that ANIM has already acted, in the past, in several countries around the world, including Portugal, praising the quality of music education it offers and also the vision that it has in the art form.
João Gomes Cravinho said that ANIM treats music as a “bridge between cultures”, teaching foreigners its traditional essence.
According to the Portuguese government official, a school in Portugal, ANIM members will be able to continue their work and as soon as conditions are met, “in the post-Taliban” they will return to help in the cultural reconstruction of Afghanistan, he said.