A-WA is an Israeli band comprised of three sisters of Yemeni heritage. Soon embarking on a world tour in support of their debut album “Habib Galbi” (beloved of my heart), the trio is planning a collaboration with Moroccan designer Hassan Hajjaj for their clothing, Israeli Arabic language website al-masdar reports. This marks the latest in an ongoing development of Israeli and Arab artists collaborating over the past few years.
A-WA is all the rage at the moment, and has appeared in magazines Vogue and Stylist, al-masdar notes. Their single “Habib Galbi”-for which their album is named-has over 3M views on YouTube.
According to al-masdar, Hajjaj will be designing clothing to be worn by the three sisters. Moreover, on A-WA’s Instagram, some of their photos are taken and styled by Hajjaj.
On the worldwide web, Hajjaj-who spends part of his time in London-does not appear to have received any criticism for working with the Israeli musicians.
Artistic collaboration between Israeli and Arab artists is hardly new. Israeli heavy metal icons Orphaned Land shared the stage with Lebanese dancer Johayna Fakhri in 2011 at a festival in France, for example. The performance, which proudly displayed Israeli and Lebanese flags side by side, would’ve likely been impossible in either of their home countries.
Collaborations between Jewish and Palestinian musician citizens of Israel are more common than those between Israelis and non-Palestinian Arabs, however. Gil Ron Shama and George Yousef Siman have performed together, as have Noa and Mira Awad, among others.
--AL
