Project Partners
Leader
Associazione Culturale Darshan, Italy
Associazione culturale Darshan is a no profit organization active since 1998 in the creative field of music and events.
From the start their aim is to pursue a leading role in the enhancement of local culture within the international music market, on the one hand representing artists and groups of artists to promote their development and increase their chances of professional growth, on the other hand, creating a whole year regular concert season of wide artistic content, with festivals and events in Sicily.
The Association has gathered many thousands of paying audience during the last 20 years, hosting hundreds of Sicilian and international artists, so they are renowned as one of the most important Sicilian music organizer in Italy.
The main music festivals of international folk and world music and chamber music, existing now for more than 15 years, are Alkantara Fest, Classica & Dintorni, Meltin’Folk, Iblafolk, Zampognarea, Raizes.
Additional aim is to organize music workshops, exhibitions and educational activities targeted to young students and to amateurs in general, in order to help develop music and culture within non institutional areas.
Darshan management has also made numerous musical live productions who were able to tour internationally in all the continents, such as Nakaira, i Beddi and Oi Dipnoi. Their last live production is Sicily Folk Orchestra, a bigger music group who were formed to represent ancient musical Sicilian tradition revived with a contemporary cut.
Partners
MediaEvent
The mission of MediaEvent management is to back up the artists who convey their own thoughts, live out their dreams, who create lasting works of art by providing both background and financial support.
The main activities of the organisation are: recording music albums, promoting, managing, connecting artists of different countries, who are rooted in their culture and at the same time are open to cooperate with other cultures; introducing the native music, gastro, fine arts language of Hungary and other nations to each other; bringing together artists from different countries, creating new acts, recording, publishing, managing them.
MediaEvent is the main organizer of Babel Sound festival. The fest is held for 9 years, there were 400 concerts of bands from 38 countries. Unlike in traditional music festivals, performers spend several days on the festival. They build bridges: professional and cultural relationships. Besides the concerts, they get closer to each other and the audience during workshops, masterclasses, jam sessions every day.
Info: www.mediaevent.hu
SKANUMAJA-HOUSE OF SOUND
The Latvian partner, “Skaņumāja” biedrība (House of sounds) Is a nongovernmental organization and a venue with 15 years of experience in active cultural work. The aim of “Skaņumāja” is to support the instrumental folk music processes. Research, popularization, organization of musical events, educational activities – courses, lectures and master classes, production of musical instruments, international cooperation. The association organizes an annual folk music festival “Dzīvā mūzika” (Live Music). In each festival, one special instrument playing tradition from Latvia and neighbouring countries is studied in depth. Older and young musicians, ethno music specialists from Latvia and abroad take part in several concerts, lectures and master classes of the festival. The association also produces other folk music events – concerts, folk festivities, entertaining and educational events. The association regularly organizes instrument playing courses for adults without previous knowledge of music. It uses its own unique teaching methodology, which allows to learn the basics of instrument playing in a short time, as well as the ensemble’s play experience and theoretical knowledge. There are also regular master classes to improve the skills of traditional instrument players. Specialists of the association visit schools and other educational institutions with lectures and demonstrations of instruments.
The focus of the association’s work is to preserve the play of endangered traditional instruments in today’s cultural environment. The main directions of this work, apart from training courses, are research and documentation, as well as the production of musical instruments in a specially created workshop.
BABEL ARTS MANAGEMENT BELGRADE
The Serbian organisation, Babel Arts Belgrade is part of this network.
Babel art management Belgrade is a company that is specialized in cultural production as music records, cultural events and international touring. Also, they are producing videos, photos and live performances for the band Naked and organizing international tours, shows and music on their behalf. In the last 3 years, they have organized and promoted music events as Festival Devet in Belgrade where they had opportunity to present bands from Chile, India, Hungary, Spain. The company is responsible for the development of the international music career of the band Naked. The band has been touring extensively all over Europe, as well as overseas countries as South Korea, South America, North America, Israel, and more the count. Due to their extensive work in promoting world music on international scale, the owners of the company who are respective musicians and cultural producers, received an highly recognition by Republic of Serbia and therefore became holders of title of cultural ambassadors of Republic of Serbia worldwide.
The organization operates a venue, Ciglana, a former industrial plant reconverted in a multidisciplinary cultural centre on the outskirts of Belgrade. A dacade ago the place was abandoned. Than with the enthusiasm of few local artists it was transformed into cultural venue. It hosts cultural events as exhibitions, live performances and concerts, workshops, urban festivals.
Soundsnice!
Soundsnice! is an Amsterdam based booking agency, specialized on the Eastern-European and Balkan music market. Its goal is to help to create connection through music and street art between different countries and cultures, including world music, underground and alternative music as well as jazz or big bands. It offers houseboat concerts in Amsterdam and is experienced doing that and also at the venue Zaal 100 in Amsterdam.
Info: www.soundsnice.nl/
Associate Partners
IZOLYATSIA
Izolyatsia is a non-profit nongovernmental platform for contemporary culture founded in 2010 on the territory of a former insulation materials factory in Donetsk, Ukraine. On 9 June 2014, the territory was seized by the militia of the selfproclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’.
Since then, Izolyatsia has relocated to a shipyard in Kyiv and continues to present cultural projects and support socially active artists and creative producers in Kyiv, throughout Ukraine, and worldwide, as well as serving as a resource for international curators, scholars, artists and ambassadors. The foundation’s mission is to inspire positive change in Ukraine by using culture as an instrument.
Izolyatsia is a platform for cultural initiatives. It is a multidisciplinary cultural project open to all genres of creative expression. It is a point of intersection for all those who are passionate about cultural and social change.
Izolyatsia has three intertwined areas of activity: art, education and projects geared towards activating Ukraine’s creative sector.
Izolyatsia has rather unique experience in working in post-conflict areas near ongoing war zones. They support cultural, artistic and civil activities in those areas and they have experience in recreating cultural spaces after these have been taken by foreign militia. They also have experience of preserving and digitalising Soviet industrial heritage and rethinking it into new artforms.
Info: www.izolyatsia.org/en/