Our mission is to bring Africa and Spain closer
Through outreach, educational, economic, and cultural activities, we foster mutual understanding and strengthen Hispanic African relations.
Vis a Vis 2014: Zanzíbar
Vis a Vis is the Professional Encounter between Spanish cultural promoters and African musicians that Casa África has been holding for five years on the neighbouring continent with a dual purpose:
- On the one hand, to ensure a greater presence of African music on Spanish stages thanks to the tour performed by winning groups in participating festivals of the programme.
- And secondly, to generate the cultural industry in Africa
The main idea of this project is to prepare an area for dialogue, creating a favourable environment for negotiations, promoting meetings between entrepreneurs, institutions and organisations from the Spanish music industry who have an interest in African music. The African artist will have the opportunity of making his ideas, creations and aspirations reach the Spanish representatives.
Casa África is carrying out this support programme for the internationalisation of African music to balance out the opportunities of these musicians, who often face complex and unfavourable situations. The project's main idea is to open platforms and new routes of communication between African artists and Spanish cultural agents.
After four editions (Senegal, Cape Verde, Ethiopia and South Africa) vis a vis establishes itself as a well-known and respected professional venue in Spain and Africa. This Casa África project has finally become a powerful tool for the dissemination of African music in our country.
Vis a Vis is always held in collaboration with the organisations of musicians and authors in each country, allowing it to provide opportunities for any young group to send their demo. In previous years, nearly 100 groups in each country sent their songs and were heard by the promoters who eventually travelled to Africa to see them live.
In this edition there is a small variation in the meeting format, but the essence is the same. Vis a vis 2014 celebrates by taking the unique opportunity offered by the Sauti Za Busara Festival in Zanzibar, which holds its eleventh edition from 13th to 16th February 2014 in Tanzania. This Festival is considered one of the best in East Africa and has great international recognition. It will have about 30 groups that represent the best of African music and their diaspora, so that it becomes without a doubt a magnificent setting to organise the fifth edition of Vis a Vis project.
Spanish programmers can enjoy live concerts and so hold meetings with groups that may interest them and choose the two which will take part later in the summer tour, which will allow winning groups to be present in Spanish festivals as prestigious as Pirineos Sur, La Mar de Músicas or Etnosur.
