The curtain rose on Wednesday at the Mohammed V national theater, on the 11th edition of the Visa for Music Festival, in the presence of ambassadors, Moroccan and international artists, as well as several professionals from the world of culture and music.
This artistic event opened in style, with a parade going from the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat to the Mohammed V national theater, as well as three free concerts, performed by Tasuta N-Imal (Morocco), Ferro Gaita (Cape Verde) and Valerie Ekoume (Cameroon-France), mixing revisited traditional sounds and daring modernity.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid stressed that Visa for Music is “an unmissable event” with which the ministry enters its second decade of partnership, calling for this crossroads of national and international cultural and creative industries (ICC) to be emulated in other sectors.
Assuring that Morocco has become aware over the last decade of the importance of ICCs, the minister affirmed that they constitute “the future of the Moroccan economy” and that public and private actors, as well as artists, the producers and the public themselves gradually make up an ecosystem which is establishing itself in Morocco, with synergies which are beginning to take shape.
“The driving forces of our country are beginning to place their actions resolutely in favor of inclusive cultural policies, open to the world, attentive both to promoting our heritage and supporting innovation,” he maintained, adding that Visa for Music is a cultural event which is part of a dynamic aimed at transforming cultural potential into “a source of employment, a lever for development and a factor of inclusion and consolidation of social ties”.
This is an event that goes beyond the national territory to focus particularly on Africa, in order to consolidate an emergence centered on culture and people, he continued.
For his part, Brahim El Mazned, founding director of Visa For Music, noted that this artistic event has established itself, since 2014, as an essential space for sharing and meetings, explaining that the 2024 edition is characterized by nearly of 60 concerts, thousands of spectators expected, dozens of conferences bringing together experts from around the world, enriching training and hundreds of young professionals who benefit from these workshops and who will contribute to the dynamics of the ICC both at Morocco and Africa.
Recalling the essential role of the arts and artists, as bearers of change, tolerance and hope, Mr. El Mazned welcomed the presence of cultural actors from all over the world with delegations from Africa, Europe, America, the Caribbean, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific.
He also noted that the event gives a special welcome to Moroccan artists of the diaspora from Europe, Australia and elsewhere.
For his part, the President of the Hiba Foundation, Younes Boumehdi, declared that Visa For Music is “a spark” and a unique platform in Africa which celebrates music, adding that Morocco, and Rabat in particular, is honored to to be “the crossroads” where talents from Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere converge each year.
In addition, Mr. Boumehdi recalled that the music industry in Africa today is worth nearly 600 million dollars, a figure which should triple by 2030 if all stakeholders mobilize. He also pleaded for Web giants (GAFAM) and streaming platforms to review their remuneration policies in favor of African and Moroccan artists, calling for supporting the export of music from this region of the world, to professionalize the sector, to strengthen labels, to structure the industry and to protect copyright.
The 11th edition of Visa For Music (November 20-23), is the unmissable event for music from Africa and the Middle East which will make the city of Rabat vibrate, welcoming more than 1000 professionals from the music industry and more of 500 artists from the four corners of the world.
Founded in 2014 at the initiative of the ANYA cultural agency, this event is a real crossroads for players in the music scene, offering a program adapted to music lovers as well as the curious in search of discoveries with meetings, showcases, conferences and workshops distributed in different emblematic places in the city of Rabat, all located close to each other.
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