Casa África, a Spanish public diplomacy institution, has opened the call to find two Ghanaian artists to tour Spain next July and perform in some of the most important music festivals in Southern Europe.
Through the website www.ghanavisavis.com, any Ghanaian artist can register from today until next 15th February.
The Ghana Vis a Vis is hosted by this Spanish institution with the support of the Ghanaian Government, through its Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the collaboration of the Spanish Embassy in Accra and the Ghanaian Embassy in Madrid.
The call is open to any Ghanaian band, that will have the opportunity to perform in front of a group of Spanish cultural promoters, coming to Accra on 15th to 17th March.
The ‘Ghana Vis a Vis’ is the 10th edition of this cultural cooperation project that aims to generate a better knowledge of African music in Spain and has already been held in other 9 African countries.
The producers are looking for bands that have never performed in Spain before, regardless of the style or languages. On the website, bands must send the name of the group and its members, upload their songs in MP3, videos (optional), website, links, photos and contact information. The register is already open and finishes on 15th February.
Once the register is closed, the Spanish music producers coming to Accra will have some days to listen to the music and watch the videos from all the bands registered, and will choose a dozen that will perform live in a two-night program that will be held in The National Theatre of Accra next 15th and 16th March.
Apart from the performance, a dozen bands selected will have professional meetings with the Spanish promoters on 17th March, with the appropriate environment and where participants will have the opportunity to express their ideas, creations and aspirations.
Luis Padrón, Casa Africa’s General Director says that “we are very excited to come to Ghana to hold our 10th edition of this Vis a Vis Project. We know we are coming to one of the countries with more professional music industry in the African continent, and we are willing to open this door to bring two of the best artists to perform, in some cases, in front of huge audiences next Summer in Spain.
For sure, as we have seen in previous editions with bands from other African countries, this tour will be a great opportunity and a new market for them”. Padron also thanked the collaboration of the Ghanaian government, that has seen in the Ghana Vis a Vis a great opportunity to show the best of the Ghanaian culture in Spain.
For further information, all the requirements for participation in the Ghana Vis a Vis can be found in the following link. In case of difficulties in sending the registration or more information, artists can send a message to info@ghanavisavis.com.
So far, Vis a Vis has visited Senegal (in two occasions), Ethiopia, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Tanzania and Angola. In each country, Spanish cultural promoters had the opportunity not only to listen to the live performances of twelve selected artists but also to maintain professional meetings with them.
With this cultural cooperation project, Casa África aims to contribute not only to a greater presence of African artists in the Spanish scenarios but also to the development of the cultural industries of African countries.
Some of the Spanish festivals that have participated in the previous Vis a Vis are Pirineos Sur (Sállent de Gállego, Huesca), Etnosur (Alcalá La Real, Jaén), La Mar de Músicas (Cartagena), Festival Internacional Canarias Jazz&Más Heineken, Sin Sal Son Estrella Galicia, Festival MUMES (Tenerife), Imagina Funk (Torres, Jaén), Fuerteventura en Música, the Provincial Council of Jaén or producers like Planet Project, Radiation and Dr. Zhivago, among others.
Source: Chris Koney
