Today in Wroclaw Brave Festival is going to start. Recentlly I posted an interview with the exlusive director of the festival - Anastazja Golaj, about the project in frame of this unique event. 

The idea of Brave Festival: Against Cultural Exile, presenting art of vanishing cultures and traditions from all over the world (supported by the City Council of Wroclaw) is very clear: to provide a form for artists to present their cultural heritage and thus give them a chance to exchange experiences.

The festival is organised since 2005. The previous editions were so far called: “Magic Voices”, “Asian Voices”, “Drowned Songs”, “Rituals: Out of Africa”. “Prayers of the World”. The sixth edition is called : "Enchanters".

For the opening the organiser invited Bi Kidude, 100-year old singer from Zanzibar. I was in Zanzibar last year and I havn't heard about her at all. Only after returning to my hometown. Isn't that strange?

The same was with Irkutsk Ensemble of the Authentic Music, the group that was invited for the first edition of the festiva in 2005l. It was just one month after I had returned from Siberia. And again I hadn't heard about them at all during my 6-month stay in Russia.

This exemple shows the power of the festival and the lack of awarness about people like most of the artists performing on the Brave Festival in media.

Tanzania is quite well covered in Th!nk about it 3. How many of you have ever heard about Bi Kidude?

For restof you, to find out more about her, you can watch documentary film  "Old As My Tongue" - 2006, 66 min, dir. Andy Jones.