ECCA aims to present traditional music and musicians in Africa as vibrant and renewable cultural resources that bridge Mediterranean and African cultures. ECCA further encourages efforts to re-awaken the multi-layered complexity of Egyptian culture of music and arts, to counter the trend to isolate it from its original communities, to share this rich resource with the world community and, by presenting it in new contexts. I have met several groups of people working in the arena of culture generally and specifically in the world of music, have visited their institutions and have been introduced to their experiences, which was very interesting and enriching for me. The result of this visit was a remarkable re-enforcement of our network in East Africa as well as the chance to present the activities of ECCA & Makan.
It was obvious to me that the musical status – in East Africa as well – is suffering from a severe shortage of original resources. Folk music in the market & specialized outlets are barely available and cultural musical institutions have no archives that could serve as a resource for musicians and creators to build new creative styles of music based on solid musical roots.
There is a serious demand for fieldwork, research, documentation and archiving, as well as networking. ECCA is looking forward to organizing a festival for African music in Egypt and is currently activating the musical exchange between musicians, musical groups and different people who are working in this field in order to exchange experiences and utilize ECCA capabilities to serve African artists. We hope that this path will lead to the production of mutually enriching musical products.
Grant Year : 2006
Profile :
Gender :
Mobility project
Meeting with cultural managers and musicians to promote ECCA and establish new contracts.
Session
Type of Project
Departure : Cairo, Egypt (North Africa)
Destination : Nairobi, Kenya; Zanzibar, Tanzania; Mauritius (East Africa)