Welcome to Piteå and ICORN, Yusuf Suleiman
Yusuf Suleiman is a musician and singer specialising in traditional Uyghur music. He arrived in Piteå, Sweden as the city’s new, and third, ICORN resident in June 2023.
As a musician, Yusuf Suleiman experiments with both traditional and modern musical instruments and as a singer, he is well-versed in Uyghur folk and pop music.
At the beginning of his career, Suleiman toured provinces in the Xinjiang region of China and came second in a regional music competition. Later, in his late twenties, Yusuf participated in music events in northwest China as part of a band, including a TV show.
In 2016, Suleiman moved to Turkey where he created the band Dolan with the purpose of preserving and developing ethnic Uyghur music.
Being Uyghur and a well-known musician, Yusuf Suleiman faced threats, harassment, and the potential of illegal deportation from Turkey back to China.
As a result, Yusuf arrived in the Swedish city of Piteå in June 2023 where he took up the ICORN residency for the period 2023-2025. He continues working as a musician, promoting Uyghur culture and music.
Piteå ICORN City of Refuge
Piteå is a Swedish city located in the Gulf of Bothnia, which joined ICORN in 2016. Since then, the city has focused on hosting musicians at risk owing to its rich musical scene, culture, and history.
In 2018, Piteå welcomed its first ICORN resident, the Zimbabwean musician Cris Gera, and in 2020 Iranian rapper and singer-songwriter Justina took up the ICORN residency in the city. Yusuf Suleiman is Piteå’s third ICORN resident who will continue his musical work in the safety of the Swedish city.
