Ëda Diaz
Ëda Diaz explores traditional Colombian melodies, experimental pop and electronic productions, reflecting the different parts of her borderless identity. This frontwoman double bass player and singer of Franco-Colombian origin has learned to juggle languages, cultures and rhythms, straddling Paris and Medellín, the town of her paternal grandmother. Her double bass becomes the real link between the two continents, and she combines it with rhythms such as the bolero, the bullerengue, the vallenato, as well as samples.
Éléonore Diaz Arbelaez is part of the generation of Latin singers (Rosalía, La Chica…) who are giving Spanish-speaking pop a new lease of life through their musical experimentation.
Fredy Massamba
Born in a working-class district of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo, Fredy Massamba stands out for his strong, powerful voice, his commitment to defending African languages and above all, his ability to touch each and everyone’s heart. In Huy, he’ll be presenting his new opus, Trancestral, inspired by the joy of returning to his ancestral roots.
Hilgeum
Three musicians trained at the Korean University of Arts take tradition and unravel it, giving it a new, profound and dramatic form that will leave you breathless. After performing in some of the biggest venues in their native Korea, the Hilgeum trio is coming to Belgium to share its contemporary creations. The group’s music is set against the backdrop of the chaos of today’s world, in which string instruments (gayageum, geomungo and haegeum) try to find a way, a path, an answer.
Carte Blanche to Akram Ben Romdhane
Akram Ben Romdhane is an oud player, classical and oriental violinist, composer and improviser. In this new musical creation, he explores the different aspects, morsels and fragments of his soul. He probes his own identity, weaving together the rich sounds of traditional Tunisian and folklore music with the complex nuances of classical and contemporary music.
The various pieces will reveal his personal story: memories of his childhood in Tunis, his studies in Paris, his life as a musician in Brussels. His music will also be a sound story of his inner journey, his internal struggles, his moments of dazzling happiness and his periods of profound doubt.
Music as a mirror of the soul, as a vehicle to ecstasy, as a way to connect to one’s subjectivity, to one’s deepest and hidden self: these are questions that are both infinitely intimate and highly universal.
Each year, a carte blanche is offered to an artist from the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. This artist sets up a new musical creation with the artistic team of his or her choice. This year’s carte blanche is supported by Playright+, Sabam for Culture, le Senghor and la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.
NENA
Oscillating between new Latin song, folk and flamenco rumba, Nena draws her inspiration from the poetry of the great traditional singers and combines it with her love for bare songs with exhilarating Iberian rhythms.Nicknamed “The little pasionaria” from an early age by her family, Nena was born in Seraing, by the Meuse, in a family of Spanish political exiles. The singer has rebellion in her blood from an early age, and it grows with her as well as her creative process.
Nana Benz du Togo
Nana Benz from Togo are five musicians who embody union and symbiosis, like the five fingers of a hand, striking instruments but caressing the planet. They have strong characters and they advocate ecology and voodoo (earth, water, fire, air and nature), with their fully recycled instruments, made from PVC pipes for David Kasanku’s “Gassed Pipe” or their grandmothers’ cooking pots to invent Toto’s “DIY Drums”. This set, filled with the energy of their ancestors, brings to life an organic groove bursting with infrabass and complex polyrhythms, enhanced by the formidable female electro-soul vocals of Lady Apoc, Izealedu and Parus Kekeli, and an old vintage Korg keyboard.
Ariel Tintar
Ariel walks, finds a balance between the West and the Caribbean, at the confluence of French and Creole, at the crossroads of modernity and classicism, between the intimate and the universal. Formerly known as Ariel Ariel, he now uses his real first and last names to get closer to his core identity. He plays, produces, composes and sings in French and Creole, denouncing racism and the lies of the past. His five-track EP, Seconde Peau, brings together pop, acoustic, electronic, and draws on Ariel’s many travels (Martinique, France, Morocco…) to create his own unique sound.
Samaïa
Three voices from different backgrounds, accompanied by percussion and a hurdy-gurdy, bring lots of fun to an intimate and refreshing show. Together they create polyphonic musical pieces based on anonymous songs, thus reinventing traditional Eurasian stories and celebrating the regional languages of France, Europe and the Middle East. Their sound is unique, woven from fine harmonies, drones, polyrhythms and unisons.
Éléonore Fourniau specialises in Kurdish and Anatolian music. Noémie Nael is a singer-songwriter of French songs. Luna Silva is a singer-songwriter of folk music of Anglo-Spanish origin.