The second year of the World Music in Asia Initiative has seen World Culture Open, World Music Shanghai and Cambodian Living Arts bring world music festivities to the public in China, South Korea, and for the very first time, Cambodia from September to November 2017.
Over these months, all three countries were united in a series of world music festivals that are free and open to the public. The World Music in Asia Initiative is committed to providing space for cultural exchange through world music, where the public can enjoy admission free world music performances, workshops and other activities.
1. 2017 World Music Shanghai (China) – presented by World Music Shanghai
From September 23 to October 7, in the cities of Shanghai, Wuhan, Chongqing and Foshan in China, World Music Shanghai infused bustling urban spaces with world music performances and workshops, bringing audiences on a musical journey to over 25 regions across the globe.
Audiences were not only able to enjoy an eclectic line up of 24 performance acts, but were also able to have deeper engagement with the artists through educational and family-oriented workshops, all of which were free and open to the public.
With workshops and performances taking place both indoors and outdoors, it is clear from this festival that world music has the potential to fill any urban space with joy and excitement, bringing artists and audiences together for effective moments of musical sharing and creation.
More about World Music Shanghai
2. REPfest (Cambodia) – presented by Cambodian Living Arts
REPfest was a festival of new traditional music; presenting creative works based on traditional forms from around the Mekong Region and elsewhere in Asia. From October 27-29, 2017, 44 artists from Cambodia, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam gathered in Siem Reap for three days of performances, workshops, and in-depth conversations within REPfest Forum.
The festival’s intimate setting and focus on collaboration served as a very unique platform for participating artists to express themselves freely, explore shared heritage, and observe similarities and differences in each other’s musical traditions.
In its first edition, REPfest succeeded in building a strong base for meaningful creative exchange in the region, and provided some of the participating artists with their first opportunity to travel internationally. Less than two months later, artists who met at the festival have already set up new collaborations with each other in other countries.
The festival saw much enthusiasm from the audience too – over the three days almost 1000, mainly young and local people, took part in workshops and performances, and hopefully were left with new knowledge and inspiration.
3. Better Together 2017 (South Korea) – presented by World Culture Open
World music and artistic performances and workshops that celebrated peace, empathy and togetherness were presented from November 10-12 at Better Together 2017, a global gathering of creative changemakers at the revitalized Old Tobacco Factory in the city of Cheongju.
Free and open to the public, this festival invited everyone to enjoy performances by artists from around the world, and members of the public were also able to participate in various hands-on workshops and insightful talks and dialogue with artists during the day.
Without boundaries between audiences and artists, both were able to fully immerse in a journey of cultural discovery and engagement together.
More about World Culture Open
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headline photo: Shishani-the Namibian Tales at World Music Shanghai – Photo courtesy of World Music Shanghai
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.