The autonomous city of Melilla will celebrate the days October 8 and 9 the first festival dedicated entirely to the coexistence of the Amazigh culture. Iwa Fest is a world meeting born to promote this language and its sociocultural influence hand in hand with artistic initiatives from those territories that make up Tamazgha, the Amazigh country. The program consists of round tables, film screenings, exhibitions and live music by Bab l´bluz, Jubantouja, Ikram Bouloum, naima mohatar either mr id among other bands and groups.
When we talk about Amazigh country, the itinerary that nurtures the cultural offer of this festival runs in an imaginary line North Africa covering the Siwa Oasis in Egypt, the Canary Islands, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mali, Niger and of course the city where this unique and pioneering meeting will take place, Melilla. The particular communicative idiosyncrasy of the autonomous city, Spanish being the official language, is that the Tamazight Tarifit dialect, the Rif language, has been that range that for centuries has allowed understanding long expressions or situations with a gesture and a few words. This gift of speech has, as in all cultures, a key permeability in the way of living, understanding communication and, without a doubt, it is a common point within the entire universe that is Tamazgha.
Thanks to the tireless anthropological work of finding that deep-rooted mosaic and cultural denominator by the Iwa Tamazigh team and particularly by its director Borja Ramón Vega. And of course, wanting to know and support it from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Celebrations and Equality and the General Directorate of Intercultural Relations of the Autonomous City of Melilla, Iwa Fest ends up becoming a meeting for understanding and growth on the part of the organizational wand of Braive Media SL Since when ideas wander through the mind for so many years and they get loose to have a better perspective to tie the dots with another neat and renewed bow, in the end a project that could be a mere musical encounter, becomes it ends up transforming into a true institute to teach, learn, discover or rediscover something that is within other arts, soaks languages and fills forms with aroma that perhaps belong to the future. Something that (and we add the correct words of its organizers) “It was born with a specific objective, the construction of a cultural event with the Amazigh legacy as a foundation, and that at the same time can enhance the concept of diversity of the city of Melilla. A new alternative framework in the field of creation, and of diffusion of a renewed tradition, with the contributions of the new generations together with the traditional culture”
All this through live music, film screenings, round tables, exhibitions, talks and presentations that will take place in two bastions in Melilla that only ooze history and culture in each brick, such as that classic ode to modernist architecture that is the building of the UNED of the Autonomous City and in whose main hall the Juan Claudio Cifuentes Jazz Days are held every year and the other space will be the renovated Fort Victoria Grande.
eclectic poster
As for the lineup, Iwa Festival will have an eclecticism where the sound fusion will be the common denominator as the Franco-Moroccan group Bab L’Bluz. A formation that is reaping a great impact with its first record work. The fusion of Gnawa music with the Berber resonances of the Moroccan Atlas, with touches of funk and psychedelic rock is the key to their sound. Fascinating and hypnotic rhythms that are already known as the “acid blues of the Maghreb”. And more with a guitar flavor, the group from the High Atlas Mountains, Jubantouja. formation that fuses the traditional sound with alternative indie rock. Jubantouja exposes in his lyrics the social problems in the struggle to achieve basic linguistic rights and the recognition of the Amazigh identity in North Africa.
Also born in the High Atlas, Tasuta N-Imal. A band whose name means “Future Generation”. Finding inspiration for their songs in poetry, with a deep look at the suffering of desert nomads, music with values of tolerance, love, peace and resistance, they show the world their ancient culture.
On the other hand, electronics will not be missing in the first edition of the Iwa Fest by the hand of Abderrahman Elhafid AKA Mr. ID. This artist, he made a long international pilgrimage, delving into the American rap sound and the spirituality of jazz and funk rhythms. An influence that allowed him to rediscover the magic of African music, where rhythms are mixed with delicious violin airs, percussion and voices from a distant era in which the Atlas Mountains are still witnesses.
Another of the key figures on the Iwa Fest poster will be the producer Amine K. We have to point out that much of his work is an ode to his African roots, however his music is influenced by Danny Tenaglia, Deep Dish, Erick Morillo, Nick Warren and even BB King. Azu Tiwaline is inspired by the need to explore its origins rooted in the Tunisian Sahara. Uniting the bonds of Berber music, dub culture and techno hypnosis, Tiwaline invites us to refocus on our senses and our nature. He knows how to use the contrasts between light and the unfathomable, exploring the complexity of our emotions and the mystery that emanates from them.
The multifaceted artist from Rif Ikram Bouloumuna It has been dynamiting the stages of Barcelona for some time. Her first EP, released in 2021, ‘Ha-bb5’ reinterprets in a personal way in 5 tracks the popular musical and dance aesthetics of the Maghreb, tinged with an innovative and also feminist character where she sings in her mother tongue, Tamazight tarifit , Catalan and English. Agraf Band, the woman in the Rif is placed in the foreground within the group’s compositions through its lyrics and sounds, Agraf Band spreads a message of freedom, democracy and peace, alluding to love for the land and the sea. A music that combines the traditional with the modern and contributes to spreading the Amazigh culture, using popular hymns, jazz classics and own creations.
As the musical ambassador of the city itself, the organization could not have chosen a better artist than Naima Mohatar the Amazigh singer born in Melilla who connects the roots of the Rif people with African-American history, in songs that speak of shared themes such as women, freedom, faith and love.
And as a finishing touch, one of the highlights of the festival is the artist Pigeon Colombe, from San Francisco, where he discovered a radical music scene during his film studies, to his mother’s Algeria, where he developed the contours of his artistic project, has created bridges between cultures and builds a powerful, committed and no concessions. He has set fire to the stages of the biggest French festivals such as Eurockéennes, Transmusicales, Nouvelles Scènes or Rio Loco.
So, and with this country condensed and packaged with so much love and desire, we can only ask the world to cross the borders of the impossible to set foot on a land that has no equal and that is halfway through everything with centuries behind it at last, the weekend of October 7 and 8, 2022 will open a new door to a world that many people wanted to dream about but that until now had not been warned as it should be in those parts … IWA!
all the information about the festival in terms of times, spaces and programming as well as the purchase of tickets are available at Iwa Fest website
The first edition of Iwa Fest Melilla brings the Amazigh culture closer