Perhat Khaliq and Qetiq are bringing Uygur rock to the world - but not everyone is happy
Khaliq is on the cusp of international stardom, bringing Uygur sounds to new audiences - but not everyone is pleased with the way he treats the traditions
In 1965, Bob Dylan offended folk purists by rocking the Newport Folk Festival. In China's western province of Xinjiang, Perhat Khaliq is generating a similar stir by electrifying the folk music of his Uygur people.
During the past two years, Perhat has risen from obscurity to the cusp of international stardom. In 2014, he had a breakout performance on , the country's version of international entertainment franchise The Voice. He now is in the midst of a 19-city tour in China, which included a performance in Beijing on September 19.
This month, the Dutch Prince Claus Fund named Perhat as one of its 2015 laureates, praising him for "breathing new life into traditional Uygur forms".
Yet in Perhat's hometown of Urumqi, not everyone is embracing his success. This is the capital city of Xinjiang, where Muslim Uygurs and Han Chinese have clashed for centuries. Many Uygurs see the Han Chinese as colonisers intent on subsuming their culture, and thus are highly protective of their artistic traditions.
Perhat, who grew up listening to Dylan, acknowledges that some Uygur musicians have criticised him for his rock versions of traditional folk songs. But he says he refuses to be shackled by either Uygur orthodoxy or the demands of Chinese pop culture.
