Don’t talk about integration, just do it
The child of Iraqi refugees, Saman Haddad arrived in Germany twenty-five years ago at the age of thirteen. Now a well-known cultural figure in Bonn, Haddad doesn t wait for others to take the initiative. Nor does he let others reactions put him off. Profile by Philipp Jedicke
In a room in the middle of the city centre of Bonn, Germany, Saman Haddad sits behind a transparent screen, singing. Hans-Joachim Busching, clarinettist in the Beethoven Orchestra, stands in front of the plastic screen and, with the help of his instrument, demonstrates how best to approach the singing at certain points of the piece. Around them a polyphony of European and Middle Eastern instruments are being played: a violin, guitars, an oud and a ney flute, among others.