Burka Band
The Burka Band (or the Blue Burqa Band) is an Afghan all-female indie rock band formed in Kabul in 2002. They perform anonymously, all of the members wearing burqas in an apparent protest against the Taliban's rules regarding Islamic dress. They released a single, "Burka Blue" and a self-titled album in 2003. The song came about during a workshop at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, sponsored by the Goethe-Institut in October 2002. Blue-colored burqas, also called "shuttlecock", are native to Afghanistan and a symbol of Afghan culture.
The group gained some popularity in Europe in the 2000s, and toured in Germany, where one of their songs was remixed by the DJ Barbara Morgenstern. A YouTube video of a performance of theirs has circulated widely. Singing in burqas was a joke, but also necessary to avoid retaliation by religious fanatics, according to Nargiz, a member of the band.
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