About

Turntables in the Camps is a project focused on the inclusion of young refugees in the global youth culture of DJ-ing and the creation of electronic music. To facilitate this the project conducts workshops and sets up permanent local dj schools for refugee boys and girls in order to show that everybody can be a DJ or an MC no matter where they are from. Turntables in the Camps was made to spread the means for musical creativity, break down boundaries and to creating a window to the world for marginalized refugee youth.

Part I

Turntables in the Camps was initiated by Martin Fernando Jakobsen as a pilot project in November 2009 to explore the interest of and possibility to set up dj schools in the Palestinian refugee camps of Mar Elias and Sabra/Shateela in Beirut and Nahr el Bared near Tripoli in Lebanon. The overall aim was to include a marginalized group of young Palestinian boys and girls in the global youth culture of dj-ing and give them the possibility to make it their own. This was done, in cooperation with the Danish Center for Culture and Development and the Lebanese NGO Al Jana, by setting up dj equipment and conducting workshops introducing the youth to the world of dj-ing. The pilot project consisted of four days of dj-workshops and a concert by the Danish DJ collective Den Sorte Skole for 30 boys and girls aged 14 – 20 from the camps in Beirut and Nahr el Bared. Den Sorte Skole and the Copenhagen female Dj crew Ladybox facilitated the workshops in order to give girls and boys equal opportunity to participate. The project was a great success in terms of turnout and a ravenous appetite from the refugee youth. However, it was clear that permanent equipment was necessary in order to reach the overall aim of youth empowerment and conflict prevention.

Part II

To build on experience of the pilot project, Martin F. Jakobsen, raised money through the Danish Center for Culture and Development in order to establish three permanent dj schools in Lebanon and Jordan and conduct DJ and rap workshops for Palestinian refugee youth. The second part of the project was initiated in September 2010 in cooperation with the Danish artists Den Sorte Skole, Ladybox and MC Tia, the Palestinian Rappers TNT and MC Sam. On the programme was two weeks of workshops for more than 100 Palestinian girls and boys aged 13 – 20, and the establishment of DJ schools in Beirut, Nahr el Bared near Tripoli, and the Jabal el-Hussein Camp in Amman driven by local NGOs and volunteers.

Part III

The dj schools are funded for two years and the next step is to establish an online portal in order to let the users of the dj schools communicate amongst them selves and link to the online dj community world wide. The plan is further to expand Turntables in the Camps to the Yarmouk Camp in Syria, Jenin and Gaza.

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