Nazar Said is a Kurdish musician who has been living in Italy for several years. Though perfectly integrated in the life of this country, he feels the profound laceration of forced exile from his native culture. It is needless to remember the dramatic situation of Iraqi Kurds and of all Kurds whose national and cultural identity is unfortunately far from being recognized. There are still countries, such as Turkey, that see Kurdish language and culture as a threat to their national integrity and refuse to acknowledge the Kurdish contribution to society, especially in terms of culture. The situation is just as bad in all the countries that include some parts of Kurdish land and in particular in Iraq were the Kurds suffer the dramatic and almost grotesque situation of living as "enemies in their own homeland".
Nazar, like many other Kurds living around the world, has a dream which is a genuine need too: that of keeping the Kurdish language and culture alive through his art.
With his "saaz" and his beautiful voice he draws on his people’s ancient songs and interpret them with a modern feeling that highlights their inexhaustible vitality. His aim is to keep these songs alive and prevent them from being confined to the museum of ethnic music, only to be sampled and "revived" by some of today’s music productions.
Nazar is a singer and instrumentalist educated in the tradition of "Bards"; he is a member of the orchestra of the city of Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan). He is also one of the founders of the music band "Kurdistan" performing in Italy and France in the 80s. He composed with Maurizio Dami and sang "Leila" for the soundtrack of "Ragazzi fuori" by Italian film-director Marco Risi.
He is currently involved with the multiethnic group "The Third Planet": its first CD "Kurdistani" produced by Maurizio Dami has been released by Compagnia Nuove Indye.
"Baghdad Rai" from this Cd is included in the soundtrack of "Figli di Annibale", an Italian movie directed by D. Ferrario.