Rototom Social Forum and the African Village open their progams presenting their first 24 guests.
The Rototom Sunsplash’s space for debate adds ten more important names after presenting the Nobel Peace Laureate Mohamed Ben Cheikh
Twenty four names, among them journalists, composers, poets, Afrodescendent collectives, activists, anthropologists, documentary makers, musicians and actors from nearly every part of Africa, as well as Italy, Spain and United States. The programs of the two main cultural areas in the mini planet of the Rototom Sunsplash: the Social Forum and African Village, take off to flying start with these first confirmations for the 2017 edition of the festival, to be held in Benicassim (Spain) 12 to 19 August.
The Celebrating Africa theme is expressed in a special way in both areas. Of the eleven names confirmed for the Social Forum, seven will travel to Benicassim from different parts of Africa to address the Africas of Africa at the heart of the debates in the forum. The recently confirmed Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed Ben Cheikh, member for the Tunisian National Quartet, will be joined by Odile Sankara, founder of the association Talents de Femmes form Burkina Faso. The author and actress is the sister of Thomas Sankara, the country’s ex-president, killed over 30 years ago for his innovative ideas and who became an important political and social figure. Other important guests will be Firoze Manji, Kenyan journalist, editor of the digital magazine Pambazuka News and the ex-president of Amnesty International in Africa; and the South African poet and singer Natalia Molebatsi.
The Somalian singer, writer and actress Saba Anglana; Thabiso Mohare, the director of the association ‘Word N Sound South Africa’, and Lucía Mbomio, Spanish Afro-descendent journalist, contribute to a potent program in the Social Forum. A program, that also includes Dia Mamadou, writer and founder of the NGO ‘Hahatay, son risas de Gand’ (Senegal); Rafael Crespo, anthropologist and member of the Spanish Centre for African Studies; the journalist Eyoum Ngangue and the documentary maker Giulia Amati.
Thirteen ‘faces’ for the African Village
There are also thirteen new additions to the most African space at the festival, the African Village, which will enlighten visitors about the Continent through its culture and broadens the range of activities for families. This emblematic space presents new proposals, such as Abha (the House of the Word in Guinea), that will present the realities of the African diaspora and the Afrodescendent collectives and the issues that concern them. That is the objective of Abha, that will bring together the Afro-descendent project United Minds, based in Valencia and specialising in African literature, workshops, art and fashion; Black Barcelona, an association organised by black female activists in the city that runs the project Referentes to raise awareness about the African community in Barcelona. They will also be joined by the Madrid collective Espacio Afroconciencia that through its important networking work empowers Afro-descendants as social actors of transformation. From Murcia, will be Potopoto Project that promotes the use of African children’s literature, and Afromurcia en Movimiento.
The African Village stage has also announced its first five artists. From the Namibian part of the Kalahari comes Elemotho, who has just added a new album: Beautiful World to his list of achievements, which he released this May and will present at the Rototom Sunsplash. Also present will be the Ghanaian composer based in the Barcelona John Kwame Adzraku, promoter of Kwame Afrovibes, a project that includes artists from different countries and cultures. The stage will also welcome DJ Floro (República Afrobeat-Sonideros of Radio 3), a benchmark for Afrebeat in Spain and an international specialist of the genre.
Other festival regulars, the Thioune Brothers form Senegal, will together with their musicians and dancers bring their multicultural proposal based on African traditions to the festival. Furthermore, Khaly Thioune will present his first solo album in Benicassim. Also forming a part of the first wave of confirmations at African Village will be the intercontinental band Afrikemet.
Finally, the space dedicated to workshops in the African Village, renamed: Ubuntu, is preparing for the 2017 edition with the aim of presenting the many countries and cultures, to learn from them through activities programed under its grand dome o cloth and bamboo. An example of this variety is captured by the school and company of Ethiopian circus Fekat Circus that apart from their talent and creativity will show how circus can become a motor for change.
Another outstanding guest will be Edú Gorsky, choreograph, musician and trainer from Equatorial Gunea and creator of the project Eduk’Art and shows like El Percusionista, that reflect the pedagogical essence of the scenic arts of her country that she will present in Rototom. The Cameroon storyteller Boniface Ofogo closes this first round of confirmations for African Village.
And still no Representation of REGGAE FROM AFRICA.