Rim Banna

Rim Banna (Arabic: ريم بنا‎), is a Palestinian singer, composer, arranger and activist, who is most known for her modern interpretations of traditional Palestinian songs and poetry. Banna was born in Nazareth, where she graduated from Nazareth Baptist School. She currently lives in Nazareth with her three children. She met her husband, Ukrainian guitarist Leonid Alexeyenko, while studying music together at the Higher Music Conservatory in Moscow and they married in 1991, and got divorced in 2010.

Artistic philosophy

Banna first achieved popularity in the early 1990s, after recording her own versions of traditional Palestinian children's songs that were on the verge of being forgotten. Many such songs and rhymes sung by Palestinian families again today are said to be thanks to Banna's work in preserving them via her recordings.

Rim Banna also composes her own songs and adds melody to Palestinian poetry. Her message is often focused on the suffering of Palestinians, particularly those West Bank. Her music is described as "haunting, emotional, at times bordering on kitsch." She describes her music as a means of cultural self-assertion: