These elements combined to see Tunisia’s authorities ban the mizwad on public television channels until the 1990s - leading folk artists to undertake a restoration of the instrument’s image. Song lyrics can be abrasive and considered rude, drawing resentment from families and sometimes triggering brawls at parties. Mizwad concerts are traditionally held in poor and marginalized neighborhoods, particularly for weddings. The songs address “daring subjects criticizing society, politics, migration and racism”, said Rachid Cherif, a musicology researcher. “Criminals and those on the run were always found by authorities at mizwad concerts,” said the popular artist who has played the instrument for 40 years. “It was a musical genre whose reputation was bad just like those who played it,” said Noureddine Kahlaoui, a self-described mizwad “activist” aged in his seventies. Bad image The mizwad spawned its own musical style that was frowned upon by authorities for associations with alcohol, drugs and prison - where many songs were composed. “Before we played out of tune, and we made it in a hurry,” he said. He acknowledged the instrument has, however, evolved. In this picture taken on May 24, 2023, Tunisian craftsman Khaled ben Khemis (left) fabricates a ‘mizwad’ as musician Montassar Jebali tests another at a traditional workshop in the locality of Jedaida near Tunis. But modern variations that replace natural materials with plastic “do not have the soul of those made with reeds”, ben Khemis said of the new models, which cost up to 1,000 dinars ($320). The increased popularity has seen commercial manufacturers turning out mizwads. Most musical historians agree the mizwad first appeared in Tunisia at the beginning of the 20th century and was confined to working-class suburbs for decades before growing in stature to now be incorporated into other genres, including hip-hop and jazz. Known as a “mizwad”, it “must be made from natural elements”, the 50-year-old craftsman said, taking two cow horns and connecting them to pieces of river reed and a goatskin bag for producing the musical notes. At his workshop in Tunisia’s capital, Khaled ben Khemis pieces together a type of bagpipe once banned from airwaves but now embraced by artists infusing its sound into new musical styles.
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