Africa 2007 is a three-year programme designed by the British Council to mark two anniversaries in Africa. Two hundred years ago the British government passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. 2007 is also fifty years since Ghana gained its independence from Britain, being the first African country to break free from European colonisation. Both 1807 and 1957 marked step Bring the Noise brings together musicians and film artists from Senegal, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and the UK. The artists have collaborated to produce new pieces of work bringing together visuals and music.

Bring the Noise is an exploration of identity and experiences from many cultures. It challenges stereotypes and looks at building understanding, mutual respect and partnerships between East and West Africa and the UK.

The group's visit to Zanzibar is sponsored by British Council Tanzania as part of its WAPI project. WAPI (Words and Pictures) is designed to develop a relationship with young audiences, performers and artists. WAPI events provide a platform for new, raw creative talent from the underground to be presented to large audiences of young people.

Also being under the umbrella of British Council's Africa07 programme, Bring the Noise encompasses a range of contemporary African music genres including reggae, hiphop, jazz, electronica, gospel and VJ (visual-jockey) artwork.

British Council (UK) music advisor, Lisa Moult, comments: "The collaboration takes its name from the Public Enemy song featured on their influential 1988 album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. Some of the issues confronted on that seminal album were the most upfront statements about black American culture of their time. Bring the Noise takes the same direct approach as its namesake, as the artists confront the realities of the relationship between the UK and Africa in 2007, a year that marks both the bicentenary of the abolition of Slave Trade Act and the 50th anniversary of Ghana."

Ghanaian music director, Ivor Placca, coordinator of the collaboration adds: "It is a great opportunity for musicians and visual artists from different cultures to break down some of the effects of artistic globalisation. I hope we all go back to our home territories with a new approach to creativity with a fusion of influences, derailing the global pop culture that is sapping the original art form."

Musicians from Africa include reggae singer Jonny Ragga (Ethiopia), hiphop musician Kunta Ali (Cameroon), gospel singer OJ (Ghana), MC Muthoni Ndonga (Kenya), MC Keyti (Senegal), singer Emmerson Bockaire (Sierra Leone), singer/songwriter Lisa Shakir (Sudan), reggae musician Ragga Dee (Uganda), the versatile musician Paul Ndunguru (Tanzania), and hiphop artist MI (Nigeria). The musicians collaborate with broken beat hiphop pioneer IG Culture (UK), digital visual artists such as Em'Kal (Cameroon), music video maker Abdulai Awudu (Ghana), animator Alfred Muchilwa (Kenya), documentary film maker and photographer Fatoumata Kande (Senegal), and graphic artist Akinwale Ekundayo (Nigeria).

The group's visit to Zanzibar is sponsored by British Council Tanzania as part of the WAPI project. WAPI (Words and Pictures) is designed to develop a relationship with young audiences, performers and artists. WAPI events provide a platform for new, raw creative talent from the underground to be presented to large audiences of young people.