Artists

Grace Barbé hails from the Indian Ocean islands of the Seychelles, where a colourful history of slavery, pirates, coups d’etat and coconuts have produced a unique Kreol rhythm, language and culture.

Drawing from the diverse cultural melange of the islands, Grace’s trio fuses the tropical rhythms and dances read more

Originally from Rwanda, Kirenga aka Eric Soul does not simply represent a fusion of Central and East African heritage, he also creates a new borderless global vision inspired by an Afropean perspective.

Drawing on his francophone African roots and building on this with the urban sounds of his London base, Soul read more

Upendo Manase is a Tanzanian singer-songwriter, vocal trainer and entrepreneur who first learnt to sing in her church choir.

Since completing music studies, she has performed as lead or backing vocalist with various afro-fusion bands at events including the Swahili Music Festival and Sauti za Busara in Tanzania, DoaDoa Performing Arts read more

Zanzibar's most promising Hiphop group, playing a variety of Rap, Ragga and R&B music using swahili language, like most hip hop artists their songs are about love and issues affecting daily lives of people in their society. They have participated in a number of concerts and at the 2003 Festival read more

Ahamada Smis, a singer-songwriter from the Comoros Islands has been living in Marseilles since first arriving in France at the age of 10. This rapper and spoken word artist has been mixing traditional music from the Comoros with urban poetry, in the spirit of afro-ngoma. Ahamada Smis’ story read more

Unyago is the ancient drum and dance ritual, performed by older women exclusively for teenage girls, which uses traditional rhythms to teach women how to take care of and pleasure their husbands, protect their homes, and other preparations before marriage. Unyago is popular in the islands and coastal regions of read more