World Music Festival to feature the music of Africa

Barcelona (ACN).- After last year’s success, the 15^th edition of Barcelona’s World Music Festival will once again feature the music of Africa. In particular, the festival will host music from Maghreb, the northern region of Africa. Judit Llimós, director of the festival, stated that the festival aims to “break down” the countries of origin of all of the musicians who have immigrated to Barcelona from various parts of Africa. Some of the artists that will perform are Victor Demé from Burkina Faso, Nino Galissa from Guinea Bissau, Bino Barros from Cape Verde, Lokua Kanza from the Congo and rap pioneer Don Bigg from Morocco.

The festival, which will take place from the 1^st to the 16^th of October, will focus on music from Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the festival will feature music from the northern region of the continent, especially Morocco.

Although the crisis has affected the festival’s budget, the director of the Auditori venue, Joan Oller, assured that they continue to strive for quality. This is precisely why they search for artists who have the “important capacity” of bringing in crowds.

Llimós mentioned that while last year the festival focused on artists from Mali, this year the goal is to “break down” the musician’s origins a little. However, he affirmed that they also want to continue giving opportunities to musicians who have emigrated from other countries and established themselves in Catalonia.

The cycle of concerts will begin on the 1^st of October with a performance by the Burkinabe artist Victor Demé. Connected with the griot culture from his mother’s side, Demé preserves a singing tradition developed by the troubadours of his land. His music did not become known to the world until he was 46 years old with the debut of his latest work entitled ‘Deli’.

Nino Galissa will hit the stage on the 8^th of October. Coming from Guinea-Bissau, he has lived in Catalonia for the past 10 years. From his first work entitled ‘N'Namolu’ to his last album ‘Africa Today’, the artist has put out some 10 works. His performance will offer a grand retrospective for all of the fans that have followed him throughout the years. The multi-lingual singer will perform the languages of Mandingo, Creole, Fula, English, Spanish and Catalan.

The young Bino Barros from Cape Verde will perform on the 9^th of October, bringing light to the new generation of Cap Verde artists who are modernising the music and legacy of their ancestors. On the 14^th of October the much-awaited Congo artist Lokua Kanza will take to the stage. With a mixture of acoustic, electronic, classical, modern, traditional and transgressional styles of music and the release of his new album ‘Nkolo’, his performance is sure to delight spectators.

The festival will close with a performance by Moroccan pioneer rapper Don Bigg. His lyrics express themes of repression, unemployment, corruption and censorship. His show will take place in Barcelona’s Sala Apolo on the 16^th of October.