Global challenges and “an increasingly closed Europe” have had an impact on the organization of the World Music Festival, which has gone beyond borders to “celebrate April” in the edition that kicks off on Saturday in Porto Covo and Sines, in the Alentejo.
“Times aren’t looking good, are they?” says Carlos Seixas, artistic and production director of the Festival Músicas do Mundo (FMM), which takes place from the 20th to the 22nd in the village of Porto Covo and from the 23rd to the 27th in the city of Sines.
Europe – says the director, speaking to Lusa by telephone – is “increasingly closed”, which makes it more difficult to move artists around.
Carlos Seixas isn’t just referring to “physical barriers”, but “political ones, mentality too, war and then those problems that are almost ‘usual’, xenophobia, racism”.
In this regard, the director highlights, in the program of parallel activities, the conversation “Culture and Art after Colonialism”, with Flávio Almada, Vítor Belanciano and Nael D’Almeida, moderated by António Brito Guterres (on the 23rd, in Sines).
In this 24th edition, the FMM proposes “above all to celebrate April”, namely “the influence of the Portuguese-speaking countries, of the former colonies”, summarizes Carlos Seixas.
To this end, “there’s a whole program linked to Portuguese-speaking countries”, from the “classics” to the “new generations”.
National music will be represented by Duarte, Salvador Sobral, Três Tristes Tigres, Cara de Espelho, JP Simões (singing José Mário Branco), Prétu (a project by rapper Xullaji) and José Manuel David (making his solo debut, after having been at the festival with Gaiteiros de Lisboa).
Still in Portuguese, Carlos Seixas highlights the performance of Orquestra Locomotiva (on the 23rd), with Mozambican Joni Schwalbach and Cape Verdean Vasco Martins, and points out the debut of artists from Cape Verde (Ferro Gaita), Guinea-Bissau (Fattú Djakité) and Mozambique (Moticoma), joined by Cape Verdean Mayra Andrade, a repeat visitor to FMM, where she was at the start of her career in 2006.
“Fifty years on, we know that the liberation struggle was very important in what became April 25. We have to remember, we always have to remember,” says Carlos Seixas.
The FMM also gives “a voice to Palestine, to the peoples of the Levant, who are very important, to sub-Saharan Africa, to continue the history of global rhythms,” he says.
“Our fight is for there to be no limit to diversity and [for] the acceptance of what is different,” he emphasizes, adding: “What we want is to continue to give a voice to artists from other countries, to accept them, wherever they come from, and not to forget them.”
The festival will also showcase “the connection with Brazil” and South America, “which are always present and very important in what we call world music”.
The Brazilian contingent is headed by Brazil’s current Minister of Culture, Margareth Menezes (who performs on the 23rd), and also includes accordionist Lívia Mattos, Rio de Janeiro singer-songwriter Ana Frango Elétrico and MOMO, the stage name of Marcelo Frota, who currently lives in London and represents the Brazilian diaspora in Europe.
At FMM there will also be room for “intercontinental encounters”, “more current music” and “hybrid” identities, since “at the end of the day, where there is tradition, it is always on the move and adapts to the context of today’s societies”, observes Carlos Seixas.
