25 October 2017
The fourth edition of Visa for Music (VFM), organised in collaboration with the Moroccan Ministry of Culture and the Hiba Foundation, will be held in Rabat, Morocco, from 22 till 25 November 2017. This forum is one of the most important opportunities for cultural exchange and networking between musicians, agents, recording companies, artistic directors, cultural organisations, media, trainers and others involved in music in Africa and the Middle East.
On top of a sumptuous musical programme, VFM 2017 includes numerous cultural activities such as honorary ceremonies, seminars, workshops and training courses, speed-meetings and a music industry and cultural expo. The official selection for this year’s concert programme features around 40 musicians/bands plus four DJ artists.
This major musical forum is organised by the ANYA organisation which is currently a participant in the fifth round of Culture Resource’s Abbara Program which seeks to support and empower independent cultural organisations in the Arab region.
VFM Participant Artists/Groups:
Representing the alternative music scene in Morocco in the concert programme are: rocker Khansa Batma, instrumentalist Farid Ghannam, singer Fayçal Azizi, the Amazigh group Inouraz, rappers Lmoutchou (aka Mobydick) and Black Jaguar, the Saharan fusion band Daraa Tribes, singer Jihane Bougrine, the electro-pop group Project MAcAM and the Gnawa Racines band.
Performers from elsewhere in North Africa are: the Raïna Raï group from Algeria and the Ÿuma duo, Nour Harkati and Aytma from Tunisia.
From the Middle East come: Egyptian musician Hisham Kharma, Ali Asghar Rahimi & the Roohafza Ensemble and Aïda & the Babak Quartet from Iran, the Jordanian band El Morabba3 and the Lebanese band The Wanton Bishops, pianist composer Faraj Suleiman and the TootArd reggae from Palestine, and the Kardeş Türküler group from Turkey.
From Africa south of the Sahara there will be: the Gangbé Brass Band from Benin, Elida Almeida from Cape Verde, the singers Queen Koumb from Gabon and Marema from Senegal, reggae singer Rocky Dawuni from Ghana and the singer Sékou Kouyaté from Guinea. From further south in Africa, VFM will welcome; Eusébia from Madagascar, Shishani and the Namibian Tales from Namibia, and the Mokoomba collective which will be travelling to Rabat from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Another band, 3MA, brings together musicians from three African countries: Ballaké Sissoko from Mali, Driss Maloumi from Marocco and Rajery from Madagascar. Representing Creole music will be the Lo Griyo trio from Réunion Island and J’Ouvay Fest from Trinidad and Tobago.
Hailing from Europe, the VFM concert programme will feature the Catalonian band Doctor Prats, ST Fusion (from Canary Islands and Japan), the beautiful voice of Siska from France, the Franco-Moroccan group Aywa, Italia Migrante from Italy, the Moroccan-Dutch Kasba collective, and the singers Ghalia Benali and Maak from Tunisia and Belgium.
Also rocking the stages at VFM’s fourth edition will be DJ artists: DJ Lag from South Africa, SAMA’ (aka Skywalker) from Palestine, Taxi Kabir (Morocco/Germany) and DJ Afrotronix (Chad/US).
Performances will be staged at the Mohammed V National Theatre and the Renaissance Cinema in Rabat.
