In Place of War - WOMEX 24 Professional Excellence Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2024 delegate guide.



As arts professionals, how can we make real differences for those affected by the many harmful facets of war? That has been the mission of In Place of War (IPOW) ever since in 2004, when it began as a research project at the University of Manchester. Things have grown since then.

IPOW specialises in ‘artivism’, using music, theatre and visual art to help people not only during times of war, but after war, once much of the immediate international attention has dissipated, as well as communities affected by political violence, oppression and gang violence. And their reach is genuinely impressive, touching individuals and communities across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, from Kampala to Medellín, Hebron to Yangon. So far, their work has spanned thirty countries, creating a collaborative network of 130 ‘change-maker’ creative organisations along the way.

By working across five ‘pillars’ – space, engage, learn, support, create – IPOW make sure that their projects are people-first. They don’t dictate the terms of the art that people ‘should’ be making, but foster the creativity that emerges organically from the communities it serves. This anti-paternalistic approach ensures that they facilitate rather than dictate, allowing local voices to shape the narrative. It is important, then, that this knowledge is sustained and recycled – IPOW and their network share the knowledge and experience that they have gained through their work, so that it can be replicated on an even wider scale.

The achievements speak for themselves: community arts spaces are built, professional equipment and training is supplied, albums are released to critical acclaim, art in all forms flourishes where war has ravaged. And the ambitious plans continue to expand outward: in the coming years, IPOW aims to uniting scientific knowledge, indigenous heritage and artistic creativity to engage and inspire around issues of climate justice, and to turn their focus to the UK, helping disadvantaged young artists at grassroots, institutional and policy levels.

For using art to make lasting differences to people and communities affected by war all across the world; for giving arts professionals a roadmap for collaborative community engagement; and for achieving such wide-ranging results in just twenty years, we are delighted to announce In Place of War as the recipient of the WOMEX 24 Award for Professional Excellence.

On The Move - WOMEX 23 Professional Excellence Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2023 delegate guide.



The world music scene is built on a foundation of international cultural and artistic mobility. Our industry simply could not exist without thousands of artists and arts professionals navigating the channels of international travel and expansion, but those channels are many, complex, confusing and ever-changing. On The Move has spent the last 21 years helping artists along those channels, and opening up the artistic world in the process.

On The Move is a network and online platform that connects cultural workers of all disciplines with support, information and avenues to international mobility. This takes many forms: extensive guides to institutions and opportunities in territories across the world; global listings of open project calls; mentoring schemes; data-driven research and analysis; and events, including their annual forum. No single way of working is appropriate for all, and the key is in the recognition that mobility exists in many forms – including funding, fellowships, residencies, training and more.

Importantly, all of these resources are free to access and regularly updated to keep atop the latest developments. The heart of On The Move’s mission is the democratisation of international art: by sharing knowledge and tools, it ensures that arts do not become the sole reserve of the powerful and privileged. By giving more artists access to international mobility, the global arts community becomes fairer, more transparent and more sustainable. It also allows for specific help for artists who are disadvantaged within wider cultural spheres, such as disabled, minority ethnic or refugee artists.

For the world music scene and the wider arts ecosystem, mobility is not a luxury, but a necessity. In their commitment to providing this invaluable resource for artists and cultural professionals, On The Move opens the world to artists of all stripes. For this reason, we are delighted that On The Move is the recipient of the WOMEX 23 Award for Professional Excellence.

Hey Joe: Dispatch from Geneva, Switzerland

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 189, July 2023.



The centre of Geneva is the seat of some of the world’s most influential political and economic mechanisms. Amid the hundreds of international organisations, UN departments and NGOs, overlooked by the high-powered banks and next to the five-star hotels and purveyors of luxury goods, there is a small island surrounded by the crystal-blue waters of the Rhône. Here, in a converted 19th century abattoir, is the somewhat unexpected location of the unofficial headquarters of the city’s exciting underground global music scene: Bongo Joe Records.

Bongo Joe is a lot of things: a music shop of breathtaking scope, a hip record label, a café-bar, a performance space, and – perhaps most importantly – a meeting place for any and all with a passion for music. It acts as a beacon for the scene, a starting point and a shibboleth for creatives with enquiring minds and eclectic tastes. With a clientele of musicians and producers discovering and sharing ideas and influences over record racks and drinks, this relaxed atmosphere of artistic exploration gives the place a frisson of inspiration. It’s hardly a surprise that Bongo Joe is an epicentre for many exciting projects in Geneva. Cyril Yeterian – musician, music lover and founder of Bongo Joe – explains the philosophy of it all: “Bongo Joe is open to everyone, the goal is to mix different social scales. On the terrace you can have some open-minded bankers and a punk with a dog and some young broke students, everyone mixes. We are fighting to keep our lives and others people’s lives interesting, sharing ideas and sharing our feelings and emotions and being surrounded by culture and art. It’s crazy because we’re surrounded by what rules the world: private banking, the biggest luxury brands… and we are here with our cultural project.” In a time where the arts – especially independent and radical arts – are being pushed further and further outside of city centres, it’s refreshing that an association such as Bongo Joe can not only exist right in the heart of Geneva, but thrive there. It helps that their landlords are the city itself, which keeps rents at a manageable rate – how heartening to see city governance giving support to musical endeavours aside from the most prestigious concert halls and money-focused ventures.

Today’s Genevese underground arose from the city’s squatting movement of the 1980s and 90s, when political and economic factors combined to create radical occupied community and arts spaces. At that time, there were more squats in Geneva than anywhere else in Europe. “For almost 20 years, it was a golden age, a laboratory of cultural directions,” explains Yeterian, who grew up immersed in the squat movement. “You could eat for cheap, sleep for cheap and obviously refugees would come and be welcomed. It brought a lot of people to Geneva. In the early 2000s it all changed. Police and politics tore down everything in about two years. But there are still some very important things left, and this is in the DNA of the scene – there is still a very active underground scene to which we belong, we still have places to express ourselves.” The musical legacy of the squats remains in the stages housed in reclaimed factories and the all-embracing, always-moving attitude of its players.

Geneva is small – it has less than 200,000 people, but they represent 180 nationalities; 40% of the population are not Swiss nationals and there are significant communities from the Latin American, North African and Eastern European diasporas. And those people are making music, finding an exciting and welcoming home within the underground scene. There are few bands that embody global Geneva as clearly as Yalla Miku. They are a septet that features four of the city’s veteran musical alchemists (including Yeterian himself) as well as three musicians who joined the scene more recently as political refugees: Eritrean krar player Samuel Ades, Moroccan gimbri player Anouar Baouna and Algerian percussionist Ali Bouchaki. Together they mix the iconic sounds of Gnawa, Arabic and Tigrinya music with Krautrock, electronica, synth-pop, punk and jazz fusion. For Yeterian, the band is a distillation of all that Bongo Joe stands for, a city in microcosm: “Yalla Miku is a blend of the experimenters of Geneva, and for me, this is the real Geneva. The international Geneva that I cherish the most is the one from the underground and the communities of people that came here for other reasons.”

Yalla Miku, Bongo Joe and underground Geneva as a whole – they’re about joining people who have gravitated to the city through whatever chance or circumstance, all exploring their own heritage while experimenting wildly together through music – and that is as true for the audiences as it is for the artists. And they’re proof that real, down-to-earth art can flourish even at the heart of most expensive, gentrified cities.


Photo: Bongo Joe Records in Geneva.

Francis Gay - WOMEX 22 Professional Excellence Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2022 delegate guide.



At the very core of music are the musicians. Every other aspect of our industry is about lifting up those musicians, and Francis Gay has achieved this more than most. Over the past 40 years, Gay has been involved in basically every part of the European world music industry.

He’s probably best known for his work in radio, revolutionising Germany’s Cosmo Radio (formerly Funkhaus Europa) as its head of music while hosting his own internationally-renowned shows Selektor and 5Planeten. He’s also a journalist and writer, a DJ, a promoter of concerts and clubs, a festival director and curator, a record producer, a finder of elusive musicians and an all-around expert on the musical here-and-now. He raises artists up every step of the way, bringing attention to special sounds that would otherwise remain unheard. He doesn’t guard his expertise jealously, either: he’s a familiar face at industry events all over the world, spreading his knowledge far and wide and always mentoring the younger generation of professionals. He’s even been ever-present at WOMEX since he spoke and DJed at the inaugural event in 1994.

It is undeniable that without him, the shape of music in Europe would look – and sound – very different. It is for his passionate and tireless commitment to the worldwide musical community; for introducing the world’s best music to many, many ears; and for keeping musicians at the core, that Francis Gay is the recipient of the WOMEX 22 Award for Professional Excellence.


Photo: Francis Gay recieves his WOMEX 22 Award, by Yannis Psathas.

Spotlight: Africa Oyé 2022

First published at Songlines.co.uk.



Many festivals have cultivated their own community, one that exists for three or four days of reunion within a tented city before dispersing until the same time next year. It’s special, but ephemeral. Africa Oyé isn’t quite like that – it’s a treasured part of the wider, year-round community of the city of Liverpool.

Africa Oyé is a festival that provides a weekend of wonderful African and Afro-diasporic music for the people of Liverpool every June, completely free. Now in its 30th year, and returning for the first time since 2019, the 2022 edition is set to be particularly special – surrounded by a whole year of celebratory concerts and events across Merseyside.

The festival started in 1992 as a series of gigs in Liverpool’s city centre, and eventually became part of a hot-air balloon festival across the Mersey in Birkenhead. From his first Oyé in 1998, artistic director Paul Duhaney saw the potential for something more. “I quickly realised that most people were into the music than they were into the balloons. Why don’t we just do this in Liverpool, where the black community, and all communities, can access the festival and make it grow a bit more? So we did.” After a few more years, the festival settled into its permanent home in the luscious Sefton Park, where it has continued to grow.

Oyé’s line-ups are never less than stellar, and they’re selected with such precision that after 30 years of curation, there’s some music that just has an indelible Oyé vibe – music that sounds like fresh grass, sun and barbecues. Duhaney’s job must be a difficult one, but he lays it out in simple terms: “I think the decision is based on ‘is this band going to make people dance and enjoy themselves and be happy?’ If they fit that criteria and they have good quality as well, then that’s the final call.” This year will see African legends such as Oumou Sangaré and Kanda Bongo Man as well as a rare fully-live set from British-Ghanaian Afrobeats star Fuse ODG and a host of tasty new discoveries from across the continent and further afield. Eek-a-Mouse takes the festival’s traditional Saturday night reggae headliner slot, which always closes the festival's first night with a bang.

But while the music is the big draw, what makes Oyé special is the community vibe – and for Duhaney, they feed into each other. “The music on-stage plays a big part in the ambience you get in the audience, because it’s all about happiness, positivity, joy, peace, love, inclusivity. Everybody that goes to that festival feels like they should be there, and that’s an important factor.” In Sefton Park, it truly is an all-encompassing crowd – huge family gatherings, local teenagers, veteran world music fans, people just looking for a fun, no-stress weekend. There are no fences around the festival site, so anyone in the park at the (usually sunny) weekend can hear the sounds and wander in to join the party, partake in some delicious Caribbean food, and become one of the family.

It’s that welcoming, community-driven nature at the core of the Oyé experience that has earned its place in Scouse hearts (and a spot on the official Liverpool-themed Monopoly board). In a city known for its warmth, camaraderie and humour, Africa Oyé really shows the best of Liverpool alongside the best African music and culture.

Photo: Africa Oyé 2019, by Mark McNulty.

Global Music Match - WOMEX 21 Professional Excellence Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2021 delegate guide.



The past year-and-a-half has been one of the most drastic and challenging periods of change in the history of the international music industry. Almost at once, and with very little warning, a world’s worth of live music disappeared, and musicians and audiences alike scrambled to find new ways of reaching each other without leaving their homes.

But adversity leads to innovation, and that’s where Global Music Match comes in. The heart of the premise is simple: folk- and roots-based musicians uplifting and promoting each other, mobilising each other’s audiences and creating new professional networks.

Each cycle of GMM takes place over twelve weeks. Teams are formed six artists, each from a different country or region, and each gets their own two-week spotlight across the whole team’s social media channels. These spotlights are a flurry of activity including interviews, live sets, unreleased material and exclusive – entirely digital – collaborations. After two editions, 172 artists and many thousands of fans have participated and benefitted from this mutual support network, with the help of music export offices from 17 countries and regions from around the world.

The exciting part of GMM is that it is not just a temporary quick-fix. It’s a new form of music export and cultural exchange, and one that is not necessarily anchored to the current situation. It is a real and effective way for artists to expand their audience in terms of numbers, as well as into new territories, opening up the possibility for new touring avenues post-pandemic.

For creating, at such short notice, a new and innovative platform that has already seen long-lasting and tangible benefits, and for being a source of optimism and comfort to musicians in a time of great struggle, we are delighted that Global Music Match will receive the WOMEX 21 Professional Excellence Award.


Photo: Just some of the hundreds of members of Global Music Match, by Eric van Nieuwland.

Garth Cartwright & Quintina Valero - London’s Record Shops

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 171, October 2021.

Garth Cartwright & Quintina Valero
London’s Record Shops
The History Press (176 pages)

Following on from his 2018 deep dive into the social history of the UK’s record shops, Going on a Song, author and regular Songlines contributor Garth Cartwright has teamed up with photographer Quintina Valero to document the shape of London’s record trade during one of its most uncertain periods.

Cartwright and Valero visited 36 record shops around the capital, grouped into seven distinct neighbourhoods of Soho, Camden, Ladbroke Grove, Brixton, Peckham & Camberwell, Hackney and Whitechapel. Each shop gets its own profile, varying in length from a couple of paragraphs’ description to a detailed chronology and in-depth interview with owners. On top of that, each district is explored in terms of its musical history and legendary record shops and venues sadly lost to the ages.

The lovely thing about the book is that the ‘shop’ aspect of the record shops isn’t the focus. Instead it’s a love letter to the culture of these small shrines to good music, and the passion, knowledge and enthusiasm of the characters that exist within their orbit. The shops and their people reflect all manner of musical styles, subcultures, clientele, ages and opinions, a great snapshot of the huge diversity and all-encompassing nature of London’s musical scene. It also serves as a historical document: the unmistakable shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic looms large over many of the interviews, photographs and stories, very much placing this book in this specific time.

In terms of a ‘coffee table book’, London’s Record Shops ticks all the boxes. It’s full of beautiful, interesting and informative photographs to leaf through at leisure, and the text provides an enjoyable read, even in a dip-in-and-out way. And if you ever find yourself in London with a spare afternoon, it would doubtless serve as an essential guidebook. Just remember to bring your wallet.

Spotlight: WOMAD Charlton Park 2021

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 169, July 2021.



Festivals have always been oases of the weird and the extraordinary among a desert of the mundane. But after a year-and-a-half of nothing but weirdness, the pioneering World of Music, Arts and Dance makes its triumphant return to Wiltshire in July, aiming to bring back a little bit of that normality – while remaining as extraordinary as ever.

It’s an understatement to say that festivals have been hit hard over the last 18 months, and WOMAD have had it even worse than most: they’ve seen eight of their festivals across the world cancelled. “The world needs festivals and people need festivals,” says WOMAD’s director Chris Smith. “To have the possibility of actually putting one on is just incredibly exciting because I think we’ve never been more necessary.” Many festivals have resigned to taking 2021 as another fallow year but WOMAD have said from the very start that they will be going ahead. With a whole pandemic’s worth of best laid plans having gone awry, why so certain? “We always believed it would be possible, we’ve been relentlessly positive about that,” Smith says. “I think positivity is more and more an asset that we’re all going to need going forward. And it’s exhausting, I have to say! But I think it’s working, because we’re nearly there.”

While WOMAD is striving to keep things as close to business-as-usual as possible, there have been some unavoidable changes this year. The biggest and most visible is in its line-up. With travel restrictions uncertain and overseas artists possibly facing lengthy quarantines when visiting, the usual globetrotting will be a bit different: “the special thing is that most – or all – of the artists will be UK-based,” explains Smith. “It’s a real celebration of the diversity of the arts and culture in this country that we’ve produced a top line-up of UK-based artists that meets the creative criteria of WOMAD.” It’s certainly impressive – it’s a typically world-spanning feast with huge names such as Anoushka Shankar and Nitin Sawhney alongside plenty of festival favourites and many exciting new discoveries to be made. And while he stays tight-lipped about specifics, Smith hints that there are artists ready to fly in should their respective countries get the green light to travel in time.

Regarding the on-the-ground experience, WOMAD are hoping that everything will look pretty familiar. There will be more room to manoeuvre, more hand-washing points and the like, but a two-metre social distance won’t be mandatory (or particularly feasible in a field of tents). It’s understandable that some will be more nervous than others about rejoining the crowds, so there will also be a new addition to the arena called The Space, a more open area that will host silent discos and other such distanced activities, leaving room to breathe “for those that haven’t quite adjusted yet to full mosh-pit activity.”

So now it’s summer 2021. You’ve made the banana bread, you’ve done the Zoom pub quizzes and you’ve watched Tiger King way too many times. Now it’s time for something different. Enjoy the normality of a typically world-class, globally-musical, relentlessly positive and real, actual, in-the-flesh WOMAD festival – see you there!

Update: WOMAD 2021 ended up getting cancelled about a week after the publication of this article. Let’s try again in 2022!

Photo: Chris Smith at WOMAD, by Elliot Caunce.

L’Atelier des Artistes en Exil - WOMEX 20 Professional Excellence Award

First published online as part of the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2020 Awards announcement.



The mission statement for l’Atelier des Artistes en Exil – the Agency of Artists in Exile – contains a particularly powerful phrase: ‘being a refugee is not a profession.’ People in exile are not defined by their exile. When people leave their homes to flee instability, war or persecution, they do not leave their humanity behind, nor their experiences, nor their skills. When artists leave their homes, they remain artists.

A grassroots initiative right in the heart of Paris, l’Atelier supports artists that have been exiled from homelands as distant as Syria, Venezuela, DR Congo or Kazakhstan. The shape that this support takes is wide-ranging and invaluable, whether it is providing one-on-one advice regarding funding applications or CVs; facilitating workshops, training courses or meetings with industry professionals; or just as simple as giving a space in which to work in peace. Volunteers at l’Atelier offer everything from French tuition to legal advice to acting lessons.

Although the organisation has only run since 2017, the blossoms of their work are many and beautiful. Just a handful of l’Atelier’s 200-plus artists showcase at its annual festival, Visions d’Exil, but still their outputs span the worlds of theatre, dance, calligraphy, films, comedy, storytelling, graphic and performance arts, literature and music, all exploring the lived realities of exile from many different perspectives.

In honour of their role in giving artists in exile the tools and the space to reaffirm their humanity powerfully in their own way and their own words, we are delighted that L’Atelier des Artistes en Exil will receive the WOMEX 20 Professional Excellence Award.


Photo: Just some of the members of l’Atelier des Artistes en Exil, by Sara Farid.

Music and Indigenous Languages

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 155, March 2020.



Language is the lens through which we view the world. It’s what we use to construct our own thoughts and pass those thoughts on to other people; when we use different languages, we literally think in different ways. It contributes to the awesome diversity in human culture around the world – there are an estimated 6,700 languages spoken across the planet today. But that may not be the case for very long. Around 43% of languages are thought to be in danger of disappearing within a handful of generations and, alarmingly, most of those endangered languages belong to indigenous communities¹. If these languages are lost then so many unique and important cultures, histories and lineages will be lost with them.

As part of an effort to quell this loss, 2019 was proclaimed the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL) by UNESCO. The main objectives of the year were to bring an international focus to the risks that indigenous languages face, to bring attention to current work in sustaining endangered languages and to empower indigenous language speakers through international co-operation and intercultural dialogue.

At WOMEX 19, the topic of the IYIL led to various conferences and panel sessions centred on indigenous issues, with many discussions of indigeneity in the frames of language, sovereignty and music, as well as performances from indigenous artists from around the world. There, I spoke to four prominent activists in indigenous music-making – Airileke², ShoShona Kish³, Māmā Mihirangi⁴ and Sandra Márjá West⁵ – about how music can be used in conjunction with language and indigenous populations.

Music and indigenous language

The importance of language in music is clear – we use language to create songs, to teach music and to talk about it. It works the other way too: music is just as crucial in the life of language, especially for indigenous or endangered languages. “One of the most important things for maintaining a language is to have songs. Language is preserved in song,” says Airileke, a drummer and producer from Papua New Guinea. “Language evolves and changes so quick, within a generation our language will go through all kind of changes. One thing that song does is preserve it, it freezes the language at that time. We have traditional songs in my village that are really old and they’re in a language that’s not spoken any more. There are other songs that were picked up by people we used to trade with 1000 years ago, and we sing their songs. It maintains that relationship. We don’t have a written history; our stories are preserved in spoken word and song.”

But music doesn’t only suspend a language in time, it can help to encourage its use and even facilitate its evolution. Airileke has seen language use change through music even in the last five years: “There’s a rapper called Sprigga Mek, he was the first hip-hop artist to get a number one in PNG, and he was also the first artist to rhyme in our indigenous language [Mekeo]. His approach was obviously rapping, and we don’t normally write poetry to rhyme as a rapper does, so he was the first one to do it with our language. People loved it! They’d never heard that before. In that way, the influence of a Western approach to music actually helped to develop our language. Now we can rhyme in our language. That’s no threat to our language, it didn’t replace anything, it just added to our own diversity of music.”

As well as helping the language itself, indigenous-language music allows its speakers a literal voice in larger conversations of culture. Sandra Márjá West sees this from the point of view of the Sámi, the traditionally semi-nomadic people of the Sápmi region in the north of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia: “I think music can be a bridge to the dominant culture of the majority society, just making a presence, like ‘here we are,’” she says. “Singing in Sámi can create an understanding that we are our own nation, we have our own culture, our own language. There are artists such as Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen, who mix Sámi and English lyrics. She has really managed to break through in mainstream pop in Norway. There’s something there for everyone to understand but there’s also the use of Sámi language and joik, and we need those. We need action to keep up our language and revitalise it, but for Sámi youth to see somebody they can look up to, somebody who’s cool and uses our language, that’s very important.”

Language and land

It quickly becomes obvious that the issues surrounding indigenous languages and music can never be considered in isolation. Instead, language and music are just two nodes in a whole constellation of issues in which indigenous voices need to be elevated, empowered and listened to. One element that was raised again and again at WOMEX was the importance of land, environment and climate for indigenous peoples, whose traditional cultures and lifestyles often work in harmony with their surroundings and who often have the most to lose in the environmental crisis. Many even define their own indigeneity in relation to the land.

For Aotearoa Māori artist Māmā Mihirangi, indigenous language itself can help to maintain the environment. “Indigenousness is our personal relationship with the environment. If you have a lineage relationship with an area, then your entire being from all your ancestors has been made by that land. That’s indigenousness and everyone has it. Let’s reconnect to nature and be the protectors of the area we’re from and fight for it. We have a saying in our culture – ‘ko au te reo, ko te reo ko au,’ – it means ‘I am my language, my language is me.’ Without the language, you don’t have a gateway into the culture. When you know the language and maintain it, you maintain the pathways to the culture and to the land, the connection to the environment and everything that pertains to the culture itself. The loss of the language is detrimental to the entire culture, really.”

It’s a mind-set that extends across the globe. Anishinaabe singer ShoShona Kish believes that indigenous language and environmental protection are one and the same issue. “When we talk about language, it comes directly from the land. My language is Anishinaabemowin. It has many dialects, and each of those dialects is specifically influenced by the land that it comes from. Those languages actually can’t be lost, because the words live in the land. When we talk about language preservation, continuity and transmission, it’s a critical issue because we are disenfranchised from our land. My people have been forcibly removed from our land and the language has been taken. We aren’t in contact with that land to continue to hear it speak to us in our words. My belief is that if we all – human beings – had our original languages that came from the land, we would have very different teachings about how to take care of her, our first mother, because we would be given those instructions of how to care for her. And because music lights us up in that way, it becomes a powerful remembering of who we are and those words and that voice from the land.”

Music, indigeneity and responsibility

One of the reasons that indigenous philosophy creates a respect for the environment comes from the positioning of the speaker in regard to the rest of the world. Kish explains a common First Nations outlook, and how music can help to broaden one’s view: “For us as indigenous people, we have a teaching about looking seven generations behind to our ancestors and carrying that to look seven generations in the future. Every step that we make upon the earth, every breath that we make is dreaming the reality for those seven generations in the future; that is the world that they live in. We understand that the choices we make now will impact far into the future. From that responsibility and generosity, there’s a desire to build the bridges, and the easiest way to do that is to speak the same languages. I do believe that music can move beyond language barriers, but let’s cut straight to the chase! And let’s talk to each other and have this conversation.”

This conversation is all-important, and we all must sit together and take part, internationally, indigenous or otherwise. Music can facilitate this conversation, and musicians are using their own power to make it happen. Whenever she performs abroad, Mihirangi’s contract stipulates that the organisers must facilitate a meeting with local indigenous groups, to learn about their culture and land and to request permission to perform on that land. “I actually can’t perform unless I meet with the local indigenous elders. It’s a cultural thing for me, it’s who I am, it’s my spirituality. It’s really empowering, when you go on stage you feel like you’re becoming part of the local family and that you have a right to be there. You’re connected through the family you’ve met who’ve supported you and nurtured you by opening this space for you. I suggest everyone do that, not just indigenous people.” It is a strategy that has created beautiful moments for all involved. One of her first such experiences came from a meeting at a festival in Canada. “The local indigenous people had never had that sort of meeting happen before. They were so honoured by it that they came to the festival and caught salmon in the local river and fed the entire festival in honour of being honoured. Just that little act alone gave them responsibility, gave them a sense of purpose and empowerment of their own culture, of their own land.”

Indigeneity in the music business

It’s easy to see the positive impact that indigenous-language music and musicians can have on disempowered and colonised people around the world. The music industry, however, can still be problematic for indigenous people to navigate while maintaining their language and culture. As a prominent Sámi person in the music industry in Norway and the Sápmi region, West has seen many obstacles that indigenous people face. “Most Sámi people live in the north [of Norway], and the music industry isn’t as developed there as in the south. We don’t have any Sámi labels, we don’t have Sámi booking agents or managers. That means we have to find Norwegian managers. Maybe they understand the Norwegian music industry, but can they understand the Sámi people, the indigenous music industry? And when you are applying for funding – where the biggest money for artists and music is – you have to write all the applications in Norwegian.” Such a system naturally favours those with more connections to non-indigenous culture, and silences many without such access.

This lack of a dedicated industry for indigenous musicians only makes it harder for indigenous voices to be heard, and easier for them to be exploited. Slowly, things are starting to change for the better. Kish reflects on recent developments: “There was no mainstream radio or record label that was amplifying traditional music in the language. There was no interest. It was seen as ‘less than’: less sophisticated, less interesting, everything. Now the challenge is that there continues to be almost exclusively white people determining what indigenous music gets heard. We’re really working hard to try to challenge the industry to allow us to curate what should be heard based on our own aesthetic and sense of value. There is still a lot of work to be done, but we’re certainly more industry-savvy and engaged than ever before. And we are also making our own spaces, we’re making our own festivals, our own record labels, our own ways of entering the space so that we don’t have to go through mainstream gatekeepers to engage in community-building. That’s exciting. It’s not new, but there’s a new wave of that happening and it’s powerful.”

Where next?

UNESCO’s IYIL is a worthy cause and a great way to draw attention to the issues of endangered and oppressed languages of indigenous peoples. However, it can only really be seen as a starting point. Any real change requires people and – more importantly – governmental support and money. Airileke’s point of view on UNESCO’s project is particularly all-encompassing. He sees PNG as a best example for indigenous languages, where over 850 distinct languages co-exist; most people speak English and Tok Pisin as lingua francas, as well as at least two or three indigenous languages. However, as an Australian resident, he can also see the effect of oppression on indigenous language, music and wider culture. He explains that the IYIL is “especially relevant for the places that are losing their language. Somewhere like PNG, most people won’t have a clue it’s the Year of Indigenous Languages because we’re a stronghold, whereas somewhere like Australia, it’s a different story. It needs to be resourced, absolutely. The revival of language needs to be valued, it needs to be put in curriculums in schools and integrated into educational systems. You can’t just expect it to happen, you actually need to do something. Because if we lose languages, especially in a colonised place like Australia, it’s a loss for everyone, not just for those indigenous people. It gives people access to the culture. Politicians just need to listen to those who represent indigenous people. Indigenous people should be the ones directing their own future, not depending on non-indigenous politicians to do it. All the politicians should be doing is listening and implementing the wishes of that community.”

When it comes down to it, no focus on indigenous languages can be complete or make any headway without also embracing factors as wide as culture, environment, sovereignty, land rights, music and many more that are inextricably linked. It is important to remember why so many indigenous languages around the world – including Welsh, Scots Gaelic, Irish and Cornish in the UK – are classified as endangered. Indigenous populations have been persecuted and disempowered by colonisers for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years. It is not something that can take one year to fix; only long-term, well-funded and intense dedication can achieve progress. On Canada, Kish says: “I would like to see the government making a commitment to investing in culture and language revitalisation with equal measure and resources to what was applied to supressing our languages and cultures and the cultural genocide which has occurred, and we’re not seeing anything like that.” Hopefully UNESCO’s International Year of Indigenous Languages will help to spur real movement soon.

⁂

¹What is indigeneity?

Indigeneity is a very complicated concept to pin down, to the degree that even the UN itself refuses to define ‘indigenous.’ Instead they offer a broad description of indigeneity that includes historical continuity to pre-colonial societies, strong links to land or territory, a distinct culture and, most importantly, the self-identification of the community themselves as indigenous. Different people and cultures naturally have their own definitions and descriptions. You can read more in the UN’s ‘Who Are Indigenous Peoples?’ factsheet.

²Airileke

Airileke is originally from the village of Gabba Gabba in Papua New Guinea and is now based in Australia. His first language is Motu. As a drummer and bandleader, Airileke brings a whole host of Melanesian music into electronic styles. His album Weapon of Choice was Top of the World in Songlines #91.

³ShoShona Kish

ShoShona Kish is a member of the Anishinaabe First Nation and the lead singer of blues-rock group Digging Roots. She is a powerful and outspoken activist for indigenous people and culture in Turtle Island (North America) and across the world; she received the WOMEX Professional Excellence Award in 2018 for her work.

⁴Māmā Mihirangi

Māmā Mihirangi is a musician from Aotearoa (New Zealand) who creates contemporary Māori music with her group The Māreikura, mixing beats, bass and loops with traditional forms and bilingual lyrics in English and te reo Māori.

⁵Sandra Márjá West

Sandra Márjá West is the festival director of the Riddu Riđđu festival held annually in Kåfjord near Tromsø, Norway each July. Riddu Riđđu started as a festival of Sámi culture and pride in 1991 and has since expanded to celebrate indigenous cultures from all across the world. West speaks Northern Sámi and is a member of the Sámi Parliament in Norway.


Photos from top: The Global Sound of Indigenous Resistance and Resurgence panel at WOMEX 19 in Tampere, Finland with (l-r) ShoShona Kish, Sámi artist Sara Ajnnak and Māmā Mihirangi, by Yannis Psathas; Airileke, by Carlo One Rebel Collective; ShoShona Kish, by Skye Polson; Māmā Mihirangi; Sandra Márjá West, by Carl Johan Utsi.

Julie's Bicycle - WOMEX 19 Professional Excellence Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2019 delegate guide.



The world is burning, the ice is melting and the oceans are choking, and it’s our fault. Those that argue otherwise are not only working against humanity but against the world at large.

But all is not yet lost. We still have the opportunity to kick back against these changes to our world, and our efforts work best when we move as one community. Julie’s Bicycle is an organisation that are rallying the creative and arts sectors in shouting with one powerful voice against the environmental crises we currently face. Like most good ideas, Julie’s Bicycle came about through a meeting with friends. A beautiful utopian vision was dreamed up, ‘where festivals were powered by solar, venues were off-grid and covered in flowers, museums were community energy providers, artists were united as beacons for change.’ That was in 2006. Since then, Julie’s Bicycle (named after the location of that first meeting) have worked tirelessly towards that vision, in London (where they’re based), in the UK, and in the world. Venues may not be covered in flowers just yet, but under their diligent watch and intense work, the arts world is slowly becoming more and more sustainable.

From their very first project – a calculator for arts professionals to work out and understand their carbon impact, which has since become a go-to tool in the creative arts industry – Julie’s Bicycle have approached their task in three main ways: working with businesses individually to improve their environmental impact management; researching and developing resources for the use of all; and introducing, promoting and performing outreach for new ideas and sustainable business models. The holistic nature is not only important to making a real impact, but is one of the strongest ways that people and businesses can make a difference, says Julie’s Bicycle CEO and founder, Alison Tickell: “One thing I’ve learnt is that there isn’t a single way of doing it. We actually need to work on many dimensions all the time. But if we simplify it down, the first thing is to recognise that we can act, and then work out what we can do personally and professionally. They can be small things or big things, but they can accumulate to be quite a powerful collection of actions that are about real change. It leads to a different understanding of agency in this space. It’s this wonderful experience of giving yourself an opportunity to act, and it becomes a really exciting, deepening endeavour.”

To move and work within the music industry is often to feel disempowered when it comes to the concerns of higher powers of national governments. There is usually a disconnect between the creative community on one side and policy-makers on the other – we often speak very different languages. Julie’s Bicycle is a translator. Not only do they act to bring together many facets of the industry with one voice, they also help those in power to understand our wants, needs and demands in ways that may not be otherwise understood, or taken seriously.

The great thing is that Julie’s Bicycle aren’t just working alone. Their message has been spreading and their successes have been building and gaining influence across many fields. “Over the last six months it’s been fantastic feeling that things are changing, and I think we have been a bit of that change,” Tickell says. “We were very lucky to pick up on this one quite early on. The way we work is so collaborative, we work with everyone. We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to gather this community.” They have played an enormous part in turning small ripples into tides of change, and this was made starkly evident in July of this year, when they, together with Extinction Rebellion and Culture Declares Emergency, launched Music Declares Emergency. This declaration reached every facet of the music industry – artists, labels, publishers, venues, festivals promoters, managers and agents – with more than 1500 signatories calling on international governments to ‘act now to reverse biodiversity loss and reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2030,’ as well as pledging to support, share and work towards a sustainable music industry. The work of Julie’s Bicycle is key to this goal.

For Julie’s Bicycle, outcomes are more subtle than large-scale ‘achievements.’ Instead, they are slowly, surely (and with an increasing pace) changing the way that the music industry thinks, feels and acts in regards to ecological emergency. There’s a lot there to be proud of, and it’s clear that their legacy is only just beginning. “What I am pleased about is that people are much more ready than they would have been because we have been developing the ‘how’ for such a long time,” says Tickell. “The amount of people and organisations who are ready for this moment of change and want to do more has been really gratifying. We’ve been inundated with ideas and interest, requests for help. The fact that we have been working on this for some time has given people the confidence to step into this space much more easily, and that’s been terrific.”

The work that we have at hand is to literally save the world. But we can do it. There is a lot to do, and we all have our own roles to play – especially in our own position as music professionals – and Julie’s Bicycle are here to help us. They have plenty of room to expand, too. As we all look ahead to what we can do now, and what solutions may be coming, we need to future-proof our business model as well as the world, and Julie’s Bicycle will be there with us, doing whatever it takes, at all times, to help us succeed, together.

For their forward-thinking strategies to speed up the attainment of environmental sustainability in every facet of our industry and professional lives, for their rallying of artists and arts professionals from all over the world to speak and act in one powerful group, and for their status as a figurehead in the global arts movement in the face of climate change and ecological disasters, we are delighted to present Julie’s Bicycle as the WOMEX Professional Award recipient for 2019.


Photo: Chiara Baliali of Julie's Bicycle (left) receives the WOMEX 19 Professional Excellence Award presented by Sam Lee, by Yannis Psathas.

Spotlight: WOMEX

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 152, November 2019.



Maybe you’ve never heard of WOMEX. Or maybe you’ve seen it referenced opaquely in the pages of Songlines and elsewhere but always wondered what it was. Whatever the case, your listening habits, the artists you see live and even the music you get to hear about have almost certainly been affected by WOMEX’s existence. So… what is it?

WOMEX stands for the World Music Expo. It’s a meeting of delegates from the every corner of the world music sphere (and from all over the world), who get together to discuss the state of the industry, create and develop new concepts and ideas for the future and map out the next steps to be taken to ensure the continuation of this healthy and exciting musical scene – and to listen to music, of course. It’s held in a different European city every year, and this October, for their 25th anniversary, WOMEX is heading to Tampere in Finland.

The WOMEX programme is made up of many components, from conferences, mentor sessions, film screenings, network meetings, an awards ceremony and a huge trade fair. But the most visible aspect of the event comes in the evenings, when dozens of up-and-coming artists of every region and style perform at the showcase festival. Playing a showcase at WOMEX can be a career-maker: when your audience consists of hundreds of the world’s most important festival organisers, concert promoters, record labels and international media, a stand-out performance can lead to big things indeed. In recent years, WOMEX showcases have kickstarted the international careers of Jambinai, San Salvador, Blick Bassy and Maarja Nuut among many others. But a WOMEX showcase isn’t like any other show.

“The strangest things happen in showcases, one being that professionals get up and leave halfway through, or they come in for ten minutes and then walk out again. Artists are quite ruffled by that,” says WOMEX founding director Ben Mandelson. “At a regular concert, people come in and stay, so the set is built in a way to reach a climax at the end. Showcases are not like that. If somebody walks out, it doesn’t mean you’re bad; the fact that they stayed for ten minutes means that they made the effort to see you and they’ve seen what they need. You have to share them with everyone else. It’s hard for artists. But it’s much more than a gig.”

With so many potential careers at stake, the WOMEX programme is not curated like a normal festival. Instead, the performances are chosen by the ‘Seven Samurai,’ an ever-changing independent jury of WOMEX delegates who craft the line-up from the hundreds of artist proposals received every year. This process allows for a balanced approach that creates a line-up best suited for revealing new stars. It also means that the programme, by design, moves with the times. “We try and make sure that different styles and regions of the world are given access. For every club banger, we would be very interested in having intimate, small, deeply traditional performances. And everything is negotiable within that. I think it succeeds because every delegate has a different concept of what the right balance is. I would be horrified if everyone had the same idea of what the programme should be. What changes is not the balance itself, but the things on offer for which you have to make the balance.”

For an event with a tiny attendance compared to even the smallest of festivals, WOMEX and its showcase festival create ripples that are felt through the world music scene and beyond for years to come – we’re still talking about artists who appeared at the inaugural event back in 1994 (Baaba Maal and Cesaria Evora, anyone?). The world music scene will be very different in another 25 years’ time – maybe we’ll even get rid of that pesky label by then – but there is no doubt that what happens at WOMEX in the past, present and future will have a huge impact on the shape of things to come.


Photo: Santrofi live at WOMEX 19, by Eric van Nieuwland.

The UK – “Open to Musicians from Everywhere”

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 152, November 2019.



Making Tracks was one of the most exciting purveyors of international music in the UK in recent years. Founded in 2010 by Katarina Pavlakis, the organisation arranged 30 UK tours with established and respected artists from 29 countries, who also gave workshops, lectures and outreach sessions, providing valuable context to the music performed in concert. It was a real shame when, due to funding cuts, Making Tracks announced that their 2018 season would be their last.

But luckily, flashing forward a year, Making Tracks is now reborn and ready to continue its impact – albeit in a slightly different shape. In its new form, the organisation put a focus on new talent, encouraging cross-cultural exchange among young and emerging artists from around the world. For this first year of its new model, Making Tracks invites eight inaugural ‘fellows’ – representing a wide range of traditions and styles from across the UK, Kenya, Armenia, Estonia, France, Spain, the Czech Republic and Turkey – to take part in a ten-day residency in Snowdonia before setting off on a two-week UK tour. The programme will culminate in a performance at Kings Place as part of the London Jazz Festival on November 17.

The collaborations aren’t just musical. When artistic director Merlyn Driver talks about Making Tracks, it is within an all-encompassing, holistic worldview. “What I love most about music,” he explains, “is the way it can be a window to society, nature, politics, history – pretty much anything. The music industry is a lot more fun when you find ways to connect music to all the things it arises from.” In this spirit, the residency will be a musical meeting, but also a place for the fellows to discuss and develop ways in which music can impact society and the environment for the better. “Encounters between the ‘strange’ and the ‘familiar’ have the power to foster greater empathy, tolerance and understanding across social, cultural and geographical divides,” says Driver. “Given the current political climate, it’s vital to have a UK-based project that’s open to musicians from everywhere. We also want to address the void within music-making with regards to environmental engagement. As young people mobilise and climate discourse becomes increasingly mainstream, music has an important role to play.”

For the musicians, the opportunity to work with cultures – and audiences – that may previously have been out-of-reach goes hand-in-hand with the broader considerations. Luna Silva, French-Spanish ukulele player, singer and Making Tracks fellow, says, “I'm really excited about meeting other musicians from completely different backgrounds and sharing our common experiences. My role as a musician is often on my mind, our role in society and how environmentally conscious we can be. Music is an incredible driving force for that. There is something universal about sound and emotion which is really exciting to play with.”

By focusing on the next generation of musicians moving and playing within the international scene, the new-look Making Tracks is promoting the sustainability of world music in the UK – musically, socially and environmentally. The music these fellows make will hopefully echo for a long time to come.

The Soundtrack to a Real World

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 151, October 2019.



In a scene dominated by a plurality of smaller record labels – which often burn bright and fast – there are few world music labels as respected and long-lived as Real World Records, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2019.

The label has always had strong ties with its sister organisations, the WOMAD festival and the Real World Studios. When the label started back in 1989, it was to coincide with the opening of the state-of-the-art recording studios in the idyllic village of Box in Wiltshire, which became a haven for some of the best musicians in the world to record, experiment and collaborate. Label manager Amanda Jones recalls: “We had a vision of a kind of ‘in sessions’ record label – taking the opportunity of artists coming into the UK for WOMAD to record live albums in the huge, wonderful ‘Big Room’ studio. This led to a vision for a record label that worked together with artists from all corners of the world – without a specific genre in mind; bringing together musicians who share an empathy with music in general, rather than simply a shared cultural background.”

The success of this vision is evident not only in the quality of Real World’s 200-plus releases, but also the sheer talent contained within – world-beating artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Misty in Roots, Terem Quartet, Afro Celt Sound System, Totó La Momposina and Thomas Mapfumo all made Real World Records their home. But the label’s philosophy has been to always take risks. “We were happy to support artists and music that are potentially challenging and will never reach a really significant wider audience, as well as those we feel should cross over with a much bigger appeal. Our expectations of commercial success vary a lot.” That’s why you can scroll through the catalogue and discover albums by still-little-known musicians – the Tsinandali Choir of Georgia, say, or Bhutanese Buddhist priest Lama Gyurme – and still be guaranteed of hearing a gem. “In some small way we have helped to introduce to a wider audience inspirational and beautiful music that may never have been heard.”

To celebrate their 30 years, Real World have remastered and re-released two albums by Khan – his first WOMAD performance in Live at WOMAD 1985 and his second collaboration with Canadian producer Michael Brook in Night Song – alongside a compilation, Worldwide: 30 Years of Real World Music, but you can be sure they’re not looking back for too long. Speaking of future plans, Jones simply says, “Keep on keeping on. [We’ll] embrace the wonderful music that comes our way and support it as well as we can, battle the current challenges of running a record label and continue to be brave and take risks in choosing the projects we support.”


Photo: Real World Records discography, by York Tillyer.

Cultural Appropriation Row Ignites the IMAs

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 148, June 2019.



A collective of Inuit womxn musicians are boycotting the Indigenous Music Awards (IMAs) in a protest against cultural appropriation. The IMAs, which are run as part of the Manito Ahbee festival in Winnipeg, Canada, aim to honour the best in music from First Nations, Inuit and Métis musicians in Canada. Awards are presented in 19 categories covering a range of musical styles from pop to electronic to gospel and more traditional styles of hand-drum and pow wow music, alongside awards focused on music videos, producers and radio programmes.

However, controversy arose when Cikwes, a Nehiyaw Cree performer, was nominated in the category of Best Folk Album for her album ISKO. On the album, Cikwes uses a technique of throat-singing that imitates an Inuit style. The Arnaqquasaaq Collective, which includes Inuit artists Tanya Tagaq, PIQSIQ and Kelly Fraser, argue that such an imitation of a tradition with deeply-held and sacred meanings for Inuits is cultural appropriation, and reached out privately to both Cikwes and the IMAs requesting a withdrawal of the nomination. When withdrawal was refused, members of the Arnaqquasaaq Collective publicly announced a boycott, withdrawing their own nominations from the awards and refusing to submit to any further awards until Inuit people and artists are properly represented on the IMAs’ board of governors and a policy on cultural appropriation is adopted.

As a response to the boycott, Manito Ahbee released a statement, saying ‘We don’t presume to agree or disagree on this matter at this time, as it requires great reflection, ceremony and discussions on how we move forward in a good way, to ensure that we as Indigenous people uphold our teachings, and do not provide a platform for negativity and separation. We have been taught that our gifts from the Creator should be honoured and that we do not ‘own’ what is gifted to us, but that it is our responsibility to share those gifts.’ The festival’s director, Lisa Meeches has also been quoted as saying she did not believe that cultural appropriation between Indigenous people was possible.

Tagaq responded to the statement with a lengthy Twitter thread, saying ‘Do you know that Inuit have our own ceremonies and religion? Or did you assume that the creator origin could be applied to anyone kind of brown? Acknowledging these differences in culture isn’t an act of division, it’s a sign of respect. If we respect each other’s cultures and EDUCATE each other, the rest of the country may follow suit. Artists choosing to omit their own artwork and presence at an awards show in peaceful protest to show displeasure at bureaucratic procedure is NOT negative or inflammatory.’

Later on, she followed up: ‘Regardless of any outcome to this nuanced conflict, I am resting assured that we have conducted ourselves with dignity and patience. Our voices HAVE been heard by the right people.’


Photo: Tanya Tagaq, by Rebecca Wood

Spotlight: Analog Africa & Samy Ben Redjeb

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 139, July 2018.



An iconic record label needs a signature sound, a unifying element that makes all its releases stand out as its own. Analog Africa undoubtedly has that. Its records are unmistakable, whether they’re from Cameroon, Cape Verde or Colombia. They all have that distinctive blend of funk, soul and local traditions with a gloriously chaotic analogue charm – Analog Africa’s records always represent the epitome of African groove.

It’s all down to a man with impeccable taste and a ridiculous travel schedule. Samy Ben Redjeb crafts each album himself, from the sequencing and licencing to writing the sleeve notes. His gift for curation has its roots in his teenage years in Tunisia. “When I was working in bakeries and coffee shops, I made mixtapes. I drew the cover myself and I would earn maybe 10 cents a cassette. That taught me how to combine the songs so they flowed nicely together. I think that was the beginning.”

He went on to be a diving instructor, a hotel DJ, an airline steward…anything that allowed him to travel (and listen) widely. Time in Senegal opened his ears to the world of Sub-Saharan music, and he ended up hopping the continent at every opportunity, gathering experiences and records at every stop. It’s a habit he keeps to this day. While in Zimbabwe, he realised he could give this music the wider audience it deserved. After the first Analog Africa record, by wha-wha band The Green Arrows in 2006, there was no looking back.

Each album explores a scene or artist from anywhere across Africa and Afro-Latin America, but they’re all from the 60s to the 80s, building a snapshot of all things funky in that golden period. What is it about that particular sound that excites Redjeb? There’s a clue in the label’s name: “It’s the quality, the way it was recorded live, the analogue set-up. Often the bands didn’t have so much money; they just didn’t have the equipment. They were doing bricolage. If a valve went in an amp, they wouldn’t have the exact replacement, they would improvise. You don’t know how they made that sound, you can’t recreate it.”

He’s not a rabid crate-digger hunting for only the most obscure artefacts, though. “People think I’m all about the really rare stuff, which is not the criteria at all. Some of the songs I love most have been huge hits. For me, it just has to be interesting. It has to make me curious.” That philosophy extends to his regular Analog Africa DJ sets. The stuff he plays is obviously top-notch, but don’t just expect the back-catalogue: “Generally I play the stuff that I’m going to release. I don’t tend to play much of the music I already have on my label. Just because I heard it so much and I’m tired of it!”

It’s no wonder there’s always another album on the horizon and multiple projects happening at once. There are forthcoming releases from Ghana, Somalia and the Brazilian Amazon, and you just know Redjeb has a million other exciting things up his sleeve. With a sound as recognisable as Analog Africa’s, quality is most definitely assured.

Spotlight: Awesome Tapes from Africa

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 136, April 2018.



Downloads and streaming are king. CDs are holding on and vinyl is still enjoying its resurgence. So who’s flying the flag for the humble cassette? That would be Awesome Tapes from Africa. ATFA is a many-headed beast – online digital archive of music, record label for obscure re-releases and exciting new material, unique DJ sets…but it all comes back to the eponymous awesome tapes. Keeping it all together behind the scenes is Brian Shimkovitz.

The adventure started during a 2002 study-abroad period in Ghana, where cassettes were the prime currency of music exchange. Shimkovitz amassed tapes of all sorts, from traditional to popular and the most left-field recordings he could find. Even back in the US, he continued to pick up interesting African cassettes wherever he could, eventually starting the ATFA blog in 2006 to showcase just some of this rare, wonderful music. As the blog’s tagline proclaims, ‘this is music you won't easily find anywhere else—except, perhaps in its region of origin.’

The blog now contains hundreds of tapes from all over the continent, from rare, domestic-only releases by world music superstars to artists that you’d be hard-pressed to find, even if you knew what you were looking for. It wasn’t long until the idea formed to create a label to re-release some of these hidden gems. It blossomed, and since 2011, ATFA has released 15 full-length albums of reissues and original material, plus a bunch of EPs and remixes, featuring artists from Mali, Ghana, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Africa, Senegal and Eritrea.

The label doesn’t have a signature sound, but it certainly has a signature quality. Out of his collection of thousands, how does Shimkovitz pick the perfect albums to release? “It has a lot to do with just trying to find challenging music that other labels wouldn’t produce,” he says. “Mostly it’s to do with whether it seems like a crucial thing that isn’t otherwise available, or if it’s an important statement and a relevant or interesting way to look at a place.”

Summing up the ATFA philosophy, Shimkovitz says it’s “not really trying to do the hippest or trendiest stuff, never doing compilations, just letting the artists’ work speak for itself.” And so, Shimkovitz himself plays no real creative role in the label’s releases: the reissues are presented in exactly the same way as the original (including tape-hiss and original artwork), and if they’re recording a new album, the artist makes it exactly how they want, and get half of all profits, too. This is the way that ATFA has helped to revive careers (such as Hailu Mergia, the Washington DC taxi driver whose latest record, Lala Belu, is an Ethiojazz tour de force) and launch new stars (Ata Kak’s proto-techno-highlife-rap was little known even in his native Ghana – now he tours the world).

For Shimkovitz, it’s all a case of so much music, so little time: “There’s so many sounds that I want to focus on, different movements, different folkloric traditions. I always have so many plans to deal with.” With a bunch of new tapes of traditional, electronic and even country music ready to be reissued this year, there’s plenty more Awesome Tapes From Africa still to come.

Petr Dorůžka - WOMEX 17 Professional Excellence Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2017 delegate guide.



It is common that some of the best journalists escape notice. Their writing works to channel their subjects in such a captivating way that it makes a direct contact with the audience. It’s an important skill, but it often renders the work of the journalist as part of the background. But arts journalism, in particular, is not just an invisible, honed skill for the entertainment of its audience; it is also one of the integral gears in our machine, opening our eyes and ears to music and culture that would otherwise have never reached us. For this reason, it is important that we honour journalists for their crucial work. Petr Dorůžka is a shining example of the role that great journalists play.

When Petr was growing up, his father was already celebrated in the Czech music scene as the country’s premier jazz expert. Lubomír Dorůžka’s career in journalism started clandestinely during the Nazi occupation, publishing illicit magazines with the latest news from the jazz world. Being brought up in that environment, it is little surprise that the young Petr gained the same enthusiasm for music. His father was that early influence, “especially in realising the importance of music,” Petr says. “When I was a teenager, I remember he had to leave our skiing vacation and return to Prague to stage a concert with Ella Fitzgerald.”

Such influence notwithstanding, Petr’s tastes were different. His personal musical journey started with Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground. The sort of bands you would imagine for someone coming of age in the 1960s. The difference was that most of these artists, world-famous as they were, had not yet managed to reach many ears in what was then communist Czechoslovakia. That urge to tell people and talk about exciting bands eventually led to the start of his journalism. His first experiences of writing were about off-kilter, less well-known rock artists. Like many of his generation, Petr came to ‘world music’ (before such an idea existed) through the Beatles, or, more specifically, George Harrison, through the film of his 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, which featured North Indian classical music: “I remember watching [Indian sarod player] Ali Akbar Khan. To play classical music and smile on stage – that was such a sweet shock 50 years ago.”

From that spark a passion ignited and the direction of his work reflected it. Now he is well-known for his world music programmes on Czech national radio, as well as writing for many publications and maintaining his own website full of material. His work is always meticulously researched – no fake news here! – and with clear passion and knowledge. It is obvious why he is regarded as the leading expert in world music within the Czech Republic. His expertise and reputation have led to him becoming a member of many important panels in world music – he has been a part of the World Music Charts Europe almost since its inception (he came on board in 1992), has served in fRoots Magazine’s critics’ poll since 2001, and several times on the jury of the Sayan Ring festival in Siberia…as well as serving as one of WOMEX’s 7 Samurai in 2007.

Petr doesn’t see the journalists’ place in the musical party as in their own bubble, observing the various happenings but never deigning to interfere. Instead he sees them as part of a wider group, bound by a common cause. Into this group he puts eclectic radio DJs such as John Peel and Charlie Gillett, as well as researchers/producers such as Francis Falceto and David Lewiston: “In general, [journalists are] people who build bridges between as yet unknown music and the adventurous audience. We should also include artists like Sam Lee. When he sings old travellers' songs, in between the lines we read: here are the values that should be respected!”

At the core of journalism is a delight in giving people new information – whether to excite and tantalise or to expand world-views and pose interesting questions. With this outlook, it is natural that Petr is also an educator. He approaches this role with that same delight as his journalism, bringing new aural and cerebral experiences to his students. He developed the course entitled ‘World Music for Non-Musicians’ at Univerzita Karlova in Prague. “I wanted to offer a kind of ‘cultural vocabulary’, explain how specific genres function in the original context, and offer a key how to understand them. David Lewiston once said: "I think of an ethnomusicologist as someone who takes wonderful music and analyses it until all the joy has been lost." In my lectures I wanted to issue a warning against this method, and present the music in a more friendly way.” And the passing on of musical knowledge is not just Petr’s job, it is his life. He is now the middle rung of a celebrated musical family. While he and his father found their acclaim in the journalistic spheres, Petr’s son David Dorůžka is considered one of the Czech Republic’s foremost jazz guitarists – in fact he will be performing at WOMEX 17 with Marta Topferova & Milokraj.

Petr is a well-known and well-loved face in the world music community. In honouring the journalists in our own branch of the music world, his name can never be far from the lips. The high esteem in which he is held across the scene is both hard-earned and much deserved, yet he retains a profound and genuine modesty. In that way, he represents those deeply committed but often little-noticed communicators that open ears around the world. It is for all these reasons that Petr Dorůžka is an ideal recipient of the WOMEX 17 Professional Excellence Award.


Photo: Petr Dorůžka receives the WOMEX 17 Professional Excellence Award, by Yannis Psathas.

Henry Arteaga and the 4Elementos Skuela - WOMEX 16 Professional Excellence Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2016 delegate guide.



Music has always been more than just music. Communication is a large part of it, of course, whether it is communicating stories, morals, political messages, comedy or even concepts and emotions that cannot be expressed any other way. In this manner, music can cause a lot of change, personally and further afield. But sometimes, the real power of music is to create change in the world by the simple fact of how enjoyable it is to make and be around. Henry Arteaga has harnessed this power to create good wherever he can.

When Arteaga was growing up in Medellín, Colombia, the city was considered the most dangerous in the world, irrevocably connected in the international consciousness to Pablo Escobar’s infamous cartel, and to the extreme poverty that grew around their corruption. In this environment, hip-hop began to appear, being used as a tool for the young generation of Medellínos to (re)claim the space and to project their personalities within their own scene.

Inspired by this growing interest in hip-hop, Arteaga became a breakdancer, a b-boy. Known as JKE (or El Jeque, the Sheikh), his moves gained him a reputation, and he soon began informally teaching the art to local kids. The group grew and grew, becoming known as Crew Peligrosos, and eventually people started calling it a school. And so the idea stuck. Despite a complete lack of outside funding, the Peligrosos’ school went on in leaps and bounds, securing a permanent meeting-place after a local school principal saw first-hand the difference they made and offered his facilities. Together, the Crew began to rap and teach the disciplines of MCing (rapping), DJing and graffiti alongside b-boying – the four elements of hip-hop which lent the school its official name: 4Elementos Skuela.

When Henry met fellow MC, P Flavor, Crew Peligrosos were transformed into a multimedia hip-hop performance collective. Nowadays the Crew consists of a band with numerous MCs and DJs, 20 b-boys and -girls and four graffers. They have released two albums, tour internationally and have collaborated with hip-hop stars such as Afrika Bambaataa and Emicida, as well as musicians from the full spectrum of Colombian music, from traditional musicians to symphony orchestras.

And at the heart of all this – enjoyment. When he was younger, Arteaga’s father made sure to impress upon his son: “this neighbourhood is a mirror. Whatever you do, you will see reflected”. Henry certainly took that advice to heart, and shows it through his work with the Skuela. Arteaga himself has said that ‘getting kids off the streets’ is not the aim of the initiative. It has that outcome, but simply as a consequence of the positive atmosphere created within their environment. When people see the passion and pleasure that Arteaga and the Crew give to their scholars, they want to join in. Art provides an alternative. The school is now a magnet for hip-hop artists (in all their forms) from around Colombia: old hands offer to share their knowledge; prospective protégés come looking to soak it up. All the classes are free, as they always have been. The Skuela now has over 400 regular attendees, and more than 4,000 have already passed through their ranks. Not all students leave, either. Some stay on and join the ranks of tutors – this way, the Skuela is self-sustaining. As long it is wanted or needed, it will exist.

The city that Henry Arteaga teaches in is not the same as it was when he started. Medellín is not even among the 50 most dangerous cities in the world now. It has become a cultural hub of Colombia and South America, even achieving the title of UNESCO Creative City for Music in 2015. And the 4Elementos Skuela, over its 17 years, has certainly made its mark on the population by its sheer revelling in the enjoyment of music and the hard work of its founder.

It is for these reasons that Henry Arteaga is being presented with the WOMEX 16 Professional Excellence Award on behalf of the 4Elementos Skuela and everyone involved with it. The Award is not an achievement – it is simply an acknowledgement of the real achievements, which can only truly be put into words by people they have touched. These two quotes from Skuela students really tell the whole story:

“4Elementos Skuela is very important for me because it has taught me many values. It has taught me to grow as a person.”
Laura Ibarra

“Before knowing 4Elementos Skuela and Crew Peligrosos my life was meaningless. Since I was introduced to breakdance, I haven’t stopped training because it has become part of my life, and the shelter of solace from my troubles.”
‘Murdoc’

Photo: Henry Arteaga receives the WOMEX 16 Professional Excellence Award, by Eric van Nieuwland.

Ramin Sadighi - WOMEX 15 Professional Excellence Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2015 delegate guide.



Within the world music scene, Iranian music is not unknown by any stretch. From the dastgāh music system of the classical realm, to the many folk styles and music from the country’s minorities, to international collaborations; and even, in the last few years, to Farsi hip-hop, metal and electronica: all have made their impact in the West. However, the international knowledge of Iran’s own music industry has in the past been minimal due to lack of exposure and contact. This is changing.

When WOMEX felt that the independent musical and cultural communities of Tehran, and Iran as a whole, deserved formal recognition, it was obvious who the most fitting representative and ambassador should be. In recognition of the growing and empowering nature of the international music business in Iran, the WOMEX 15 Professional Excellence Award is presented to Ramin Sadighi, founder of Hermes Records.

The list of Sadighi’s achievements is truly incredible. His name crops up in any discussion of music within Iran, and his work has led to many important milestones in Iranian music. Even before he set up Hermes Records, Sadighi was instrumental in creating the first legal way for Iranians to purchase music from the West, importing albums from distributors and record labels to sell through a chain of book shops in Tehran. In doing so, he created the first international music scene in post-revolution Iran. One of the most popular albums he imported during this time was Peter Gabriel’s Passion – the original soundtrack of Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ – which used influences from all over the world. With this, his eyes were opened to the potential of ‘world music’ within the Iranian market.

Sadighi founded Hermes Records in 1999, its mission statement to promote Iranian music on a global scale. What style this music takes is generally irrelevant – high quality is the most important aspect, and releases tend to focus on boundary-pushing and innovation in some way. Sadighi himself describes the label’s musical output simply as ‘Hermesian’, which is probably the best way to put it. They’ve carved out their own niche. As he personally targets music away from the Iranian mainstream (avoiding ‘standard’ classical and pop styles), Sadighi and his label have released albums by artists from all over the world. Their discography encompasses jazz, traditional and folk music, rock, the classical and art music of Iran, Europe and beyond and all manner of fusions. The quality of Hermes’ releases is obvious, and has been recognised with many awards including a Grammy nomination for Best World Music Album in 2006, the collaboration between Djivan Gasparyan and Hossein Alizadeh, Endless Vision: just one of the many ground-breaking collaborations, both artistic and professional, facilitated by Sadighi and Hermes Records.

In promoting music and in order to create a healthy music industry, it is also imperative to promote the artistic and personal wellbeing of musicians. In a time where music in Iran is tightly controlled by its Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Hermes Records and Sadighi himself are known within the country for standing up for musicians’ rights of expression and for their legal rights when faced with the copyright violation which blights Iran’s industry.

Using his wealth of knowledge, experience and influence, Ramin Sadighi has helped the Tehrani and Iranian scenes in many spheres beyond recorded music. He arranges and directs numerous concerts each year, by international artists in Tehran, and by Iranian artists abroad. He was also instrumental in the set-up of Tehran’s Underground Music Competition, which really broke rock music to a wider audience in Iran.

A champion of music through the written word as well as his actions, he is a biographer of the country’s alternative and underground scenes, having written several in-depth but accessible articles on the history – both musical and political – of the Iran’s non-mainstream styles. Locally, he co-founded the monthly magazine Culture and Music and even released the first (and so far only) non-English edition of world music magazine Songlines, a Farsi edition released in 2006.

An innovator, enthusiast and passionate promoter, not only of forward-thinking alternative art music or world music, jazz and fusion, but of all music that deserves an audience, inside Iran and out, it is appropriate that in honouring the Iranian independent musical community, we at WOMEX present the Professional Excellence Award to this young godfather of the international scene in Iran.

And how does one create such a positive environment for music and musicians? For Ramin Sadighi, the key areas are simple: “friendship, devotion and belief that creative ideas have the priority over the financial matters”.

Photo: Ramin Sadighi receives the WOMEX 15 Professional Excellence Award, by Yannis Psathas.