Somehow I have been extremelly busy the last month, so let me use again the same picture (by the way, the advocado tree hasn’t grown one single leaf…) Today the day is as gloomy as that one. In the last month many things have happened and you’ll find below a lot of contents. Therefore I won’t extent myself much here. The content is gold as some interesting friends and colleagues share their insights.

Remember that you can send any suggestion of content for the next editions. And if you like this, tell me. And share it and let your friends know. 

And once more here you have our playlist to accompany the reading –>

Thanks for your attention.

Araceli Tzigane | info@mundimapa.com | +34 676 30 28 82 

Feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends if you like it. Subscription is available here.

Do you know any other initiative of data gathering that may be useful to disseminate between the sector? Please, let me know to share it.

Survey by DISCE, specifically about Europe I knew about this one thanks to Birgit Ellinghaus from alba Kultur. According to their website, “the DISCE Consortium puts together academic and stakeholder partners with a variety of complementary skills and competencies, joining their knowledge to tackle challenges of the Cultural and Creative sector from different points of view.”  They have launched a brief survey for organizations with cultural/creative workers about their working conditions across a range of relevant sectors. It is called Who Cares about Creative and Cultural Workers in Europe? and it is open for any organization working in culture. Deadline to fullfill it is Friday 3rd of July. Access here.

MOST is a project lead by the well-known Hungarian firm Hangvető, co-founded by the Creative Europe program, which mission is to boost the music market of the Balkans, by connecting and supporting actors of the world music scene; artists, managers, festivals and institutions. It has four pillars of training programs and closes with a MOST Showcase event in 2023. Those pillars are explained here.

Why should it be interesting for you if you are not from the Balkans? Apart of learning that this is a project in which world / global / tradicional music has a relevant role, that has been supported by Creative Europe, they are launching lines of activity to connect the Balkans with the global music market. Some of their offline activies have been postponed (note it is a 4-year project) and they are keeping the flame alive with online events like their talks program. Follow their calls in their Facebook page. For instance, TOMORROW MORNING they will hold this talk. Click to access the details and to attend the talk tomorrow:

In the mean time you can check the participant festivals here. Note also Todo Mundo (Belgrade, Serbia) is part of this and we have the interview from last November with Bojan Djordjevic, here.

Also included in this project it is Musicastrada Festival (Tuscany, Italy). Find below the answers by Davide Mancini. And beside MOST, in this May edition we have another festival from Croatia, the Ritam Mediterana (Mediterranean Rhythm), in Zagreb, thanks to the answers of Zlatan Jaganjac.

Thank you all for the kind welcome to these questions. In this time of uncertainty I hope the dissemination of your insights will help someone to spread your vision.

MINI INTERVIEW WITH ZLATAN JAGANJAC FROM RITAM MEDITERANA (ZAGREB, CROATIA)

I knew about this festivals thanks to the initiative of Spanish Embassy in Belgrade. Our Spanish band Entavía is programmed to play in Serbia and in Croatia next Summer. Ritam Mediterana is the Croatian one. At this moment we are obviously not sure that this will be possible but I wanted to learn more about this Mediterranean music festival in Zagreb, a city in where I have never been.

The festival defines itself as a festival of the food, art, music and rhythm and the dates are 4 to 11 of July. The location is the Strossmayer Square, according to the festival website, “one of the most underrated parks, hidden among the trees between Zrinjevac Park and Tomislavac Park.” Let’s let Zlatan Jaganjac explain us more.

MM – What do you search in an artist when you create the programme? 

ZJ: The idea of Mediterranean Rhythm Festival was to present an event where in one place every visitor can get an insight into the contemporary Mediterranean, more precisely different Mediterranean countries, regions and cities.

Music, in the identity as well as the mean of communication, has always played a very important role and that is why performers at the festival should perform using their native language, preferably using the traditional instruments, all together to be authentic contemporary music artists who will present what can be heard if you visit their city/region/country today.

The Mediterranean Rhythm Festival takes every visitor on a kind of journey through the Mediterranean because it contains lots of paint works, installations, cuisine and even VR technology which enables virtual walk through different destinations.

MM – Which are the global objectives of your festival?
ZJ: I believe that the festival has a huge potential to grow in years to come, and thus contributes to the understanding of diversity and interesting cultures at the Mediterranean. Through culture, gastronomy, books, movies… we get to know the Mediterranean, which is known as the “cradle of civilization”. I will strive to make this young festival live long and fulfilled, because it would mean helping many to present and create in a very interesting rhythm specific to the Mediterranean.There is a potential for the festival to be also hosted by city in Mediterranean other than Zagreb, where it all started. So I hereby invite any interested party to contact me in case they think we could cooperate on the project, and take the festival to their city/region/country.

ZJ: Since the festival is free for visitors and I want to keep it that way, providing sponsorship from the companies and support of the institutions is quite a demanding task because not enough funds are allocated for culture in general, and when an economic crisis like this due to COVID19 occurs, the situation becomes even more complicated. My goal is to get feedback and, if possible, a positive reaction from as many countries in the Mediterranean as possible, and one day I may be able to bring all the Mediterranean countries together. Sometimes the challenge is to stay optimistic, but it’s the only way forward.

MM – Which are currently the main challenges for this kind of cultural proposals like yours?
ZJ: Unpredictable development of the situation with the COVID19 pandemic, due to which mobility is suspended, as well as other measures that completely prohibit public gatherings I consider to be the greatest challenge at this point. My wish is to be surrounded with people that participate in the Festival and perceive themselves as part of the solution, with focus on human aspect of social contacts and live energy, rather than a virtual one.

MM – In one sentence, summarise the reason/s to go to your festival. 
ZJ: If you wish to experience the sound, taste, color and scent of the Mediterranean in just a few hours or even better in a few festival days, you don’t have to get stuck on an expensive cruise – it is enough to visit Zagreb and enjoy various gastronomic delicacies, wines, books, concerts while chilling in the appropriately created Garden of the Mediterranean!

Pictures’ credits:

I don’t remember when and where I met Davide Mancini. He is one of those colleagues that I have met in so many places… I was happy to see that his Musicasatrada Festival was also selected in the festivals from the West for MOST.

Davide Mancini is a music addict from a very young age. He has worked in radio, newspaper, played the guitar as a non-professional and finally became an agent, manager and festival organizer. He created an agency, Musicastrada, focused on world music and beyond, working in Italy and the rest of the world and since 2000 is the creator and artistic director of the Musicastrada Festival, the only itinerant event of world-global sound based in Tuscany.

The program is an itinerant event focused on music, photography and territory promotion, usually from the half of July to the Half of August. Concerts are free of charge with local and international artists coming all over the world. From small intimate squares to bigger ones, the audience may vary from 100 to 800 hundred each night. This is the description in their website and, even when I have never been in Tuscany, I am sure it must be a total delight.

I wish this awful situation ended soon, for me and for many colleagues, like Davide, Zlatan and so many that I appreciate and that are struggling and suffering. But let’s let Davide to take the floor now.

MM – What do you search in an artist when you create the programme? 

DM: Originality, that means, original music, or, if he plays tradition (in the case of a world music artist), an evolution of that. I’m not interested in strictly folk, traditional or ethnic music, but at the same time it becomes interesting to me when it is mixed with modern sound, electronics, instruments usually not related to that genre, or when the artist use tradition to make something new.

Pictures’ credits:

Send this magazine with the interview to a colleague