Hani Mojtahedy (HJirok)

In her stirring performance ‘Forbidden Echoes,’ celebrated Kurdish vocalist Hani Mojtahedy breathes new life into an ancient Kurdish legend about Shirin, a woman who once fled to the mountains nestled in the Kurdish borderlands of northern Iraq and Iran.

Unbounded by man-made borders, Mojtahedy’s voice sweeps across the valley, reaching the final resting places of countless victims of cruel politics. Her melodies cross into Iran, echoing back from a land where women’s voices are limited to choir performances, challenging the silence imposed on solo female singers.