MIAF director Eddie Hatitye joins WOMEX 23 programme

Hatitye will join Ugandan festival programmer, arts consultant and poet Herman Kabubi and Mauritanian rapper and Arterial Network president Limam Monza Kane for the African Networking Session.

Held annually in various European cities, WOMEX is a global trade event for music business professionals, drawing experts from across the spectrum to facilitate discussions for industry progress. The event will feature showcases, film screenings and conference sessions.

Networking sessions at WOMEX serve as a hub for fostering connections, allowing professionals from around the world to collaborate, exchange ideas and cultivate relationships.

“This year’s African Networking Session focuses on how we can effectively collaborate with and support African artists, while also devising a circuit that enables a multitude of musicians to embark on tours and perform at various festivals, markets, concerts and venues,” WOMEX said. “This collaborative effort aims to streamline the work of agents, managers, programmers, bookers and promoters by facilitating resource sharing and creating a more interconnected music ecosystem.”

The WOMEX programme also includes the Asian Networking Session as well as discussions about utilising archives, supporting artists at risk, exploring gender and authority in music journalism, and more. Additional sessions are expected to be announced soon.

Last year, African industry experts including David Alexander (South Africa), Dudu Sarr (Senegal), Rabby Jones (Ghana) and Melody Zambuko (Zimbabwe) spoke at WOMEX, which ran from 19 to 23 October in Lisbon, Portugal.

Speaking to Music In Africa back in February about the African segments and African footprint at WOMEX, the conference’s head of press and communications, Gaurav Narula, said: “Every year, the programme jury at WOMEX works hard to present a diverse and balanced programme across all elements of our event. The geographical factor is one of the important criteria. Therefore, we always try to present and introduce speakers and artists from Africa.

“Our goal is to highlight access, mobility and diversity, and to communicate the value of those essential elements to the wider industry. I think that we have succeeded as an event by little organic steps in the last 29 years, rather than any giant milestones, and we’re grateful to an open-minded world music community for enabling our achievements. It’s not always reliable to predict the next five years. However, there is a huge wave of creative talent coming from Africa and the African diaspora, and it is going to be felt globally and on its own terms.”

Delegate registration for WOMEX 23 is open here.