Singer, Crimean Tatar, winner of numerous international music awards, Jamala today presented her new album QIRIM

Jamala, a Crimean Tatar singer, winner of numerous international music awards, including the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Leadership Award, presented her new album QIRIM today.

This is a cultural event not only for Crimea and Ukraine, but for the whole world. Now more than ever it is important to show the faces of the people who suffer the most from the occupation of Crimea. Given the widespread manipulative narrative that the Ukrainian peninsula is “part of Russia,” QIRIM is a cultural and informational weapon against the propaganda of the aggressor country.

The QIRIM album is a powerful representation of one of the three indigenous peoples of Ukraine, the Crimean Tatars, for whom Crimea is the only historical homeland. It is the territory where the Crimean Tatars were formed and lived.

Currently, there is also a war for identity, as Russia has been trying to destroy the very existence of the Crimean Tatars for several centuries, starting with the annexation of Crimea in 1783, the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944, and the occupation and current events.

Combating propaganda through culture and its wide dissemination is one of the most effective ways. The Mission is grateful to Jamala for her great work, which will change the world’s perception of Crimea and form completely new associations with the Ukrainian peninsula as a mosaic of different cultures, traditions and faiths.

The album includes 15 ancient compositions of the Crimean Tatar people recorded together with the orchestra. You can hear them for the first time in person today at the National Opera of Ukraine in Kyiv.

On May 11, Jamala’s concert will take place in Liverpool, England.