Imaginary

Fictional Narratives

Poetry

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

Badiâa Bouhrizi is a Tunisian singer who uses her music as a vehicle for activism. “In her late twenties Badiâa arrived at a moment of a deep cultural introspection and started exploring her Amazigh family roots, Amazigh being a self-name of the Berbers, the pre-Arab inhabitants of North Africa, whose language used to be forbidden in Tunisia in the name of national unity. The deconstruction of her personal linguistic and cultural heritage allowed her to conclude that there was more Mali and Congo in her rhythm than Palestine, opening a new perspective on the language she uses to sing - fuṣḥá, the modern standard Arabic, in which she started noticing the many Amazigh words of her ancestors. The glue amalgamating these two large musical traditions she carries within her is her voracious curiosity for hard rock, jazz, funk, neo-soul, electronica, and reggae.” She is a “Tunisian musician who engages with the world”. Here is a collection of her videos, and a link to her album “Kahru Musiqa” (2023) (50’).

Carlos Santana’s musical career took off after his appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969. Since then, he has used his talents in support of all people. “. . . from Santana’s earliest days as a groundbreaking Afro-Latin-blues-rock fusion outfit in San Francisco . . . Carlos Santana has been the visionary force behind artistry that transcends musical genres and generational, cultural and geographical boundaries.” “Long before the category now known as ‘world music’ was named, Santana’s ever-evolving sound was always ahead of its time in its universal appeal, and today registers as ideally in sync with the 21st century’s pan-cultural landscape. And, with a dedication to humanitarian outreach and social activism that parallels his lifelong relationship with music, Carlos Santana is as much an exemplary world citizen as a global music icon.” His “legacy spans decades of musical greatness, spiritual richness, and human transcendence as his legacy isn't limited only to music. His influence expands to several humanitarian labors in which the musician has been active uninterruptedly. Ever since his first epic debut at 1969’s Woodstock festival, the artist became a profound inspiration to the lives of millions of people around the world. At first because of his infectious rhythms and guitar riffs by his musical heritage, but throughout the years he has gone beyond that with his honorable acts of kindness that strengthen his message of love, hope, and unity.” Santana says: “I have a passion for music that resonates from the human soul.” He authored an autobiography, and has been the main subject of books by Louise Chipley Slavicek, Norman Weinstein, Nicholas Nigro, and Mary Shapiro. Here are links to a 2021 concert, some videos, his playlists, and his releases.

Manu Dibango “was one of the pioneers of world music in the early 1970s and remained one of the most internationally celebrated African musicians into the mid-1990s.”. “Born in Cameroon, Parisian by adoption, Manu Dibango is one of the first musicians to blend traditional African music and jazz. His music has been called American in France, European in Africa, and African in the United States, but he refuses to be labelled and proclaims that he belongs to the 'race of musicians'.” “Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Dibango established his own unique sound, smoothly blending jazz, soul, and funk with Cameroonian-inspired melodies.” “Long recognized for combining African, American, European, and techno sounds, Dibango first achieved global fame in 1973 with ‘Soul Makossa,’ through which he popularized makossa music, a Cameroonian form of early-century West African dance music.” “He famously led a humanitarian effort to raise money for the fight against famine in Ethiopia through a number of initiatives . . .” Here are links to his releases, a live concert, an interview, and some videos.

Alpha Blondy (born Seydou Kone) is a reggae singer from Ivory Coast who has used his music to express an interest in people all over the world. “Reggae, the spiritual and sometimes sharply political dance music that Jamaica exported to the rest of the world, has often carried a message of peace and universal understanding.” “Singing his songs in multiple languages, (Blondy) used his music to address political and spiritual issues, with some of his most popular songs dealing with political topics of the times, like 1985's ‘Apartheid Is Nazism’ and 1998's ‘Yitzhak Rabin,’ a tribute to the assassinated Israeli Prime Minister.” “Ivoirian star Alpha Blondy has certainly earned his reputation as the ‘enfant terrible’ of African reggae. Indeed, the media have had a field day with the singer's volatile personality, his unstable personal life and his string of nervous breakdowns. But nobody can deny that Blondy's hard-hitting reggae has caused a major stir on the West African music scene.” He sings about “sings about struggle, revolution, peace, love and corruption.” Here are links to his releases, his playlists, a documentary film, an interview, and some videos.

Ibrahim Maalouf is a trumpeter and flugelhornist who was born in Beirut, grew up in France, and has become a true citizen of the world. “Maalouf was born into a Lebanese family of intellectuals and artists; he is the son of trumpeter Nassim Maalouf and pianist Nada Maalouf, nephew of the writer Amin Maalouf and grandson of journalist, poet and musicologist Rushdi Maalouf. He is noted for playing Arabic music with quarter tones on the trumpet, which is a rare skill, pioneered by his father and Don Ellis in the 1960s.” “Among the most heralded trumpeters of his generation, his fusions of pop, soul, electro, hip-hop, French chanson, and the traditional music of his Lebanese heritage has resulted in more than two-dozen acclaimed albums and original scores for more than 20 films.” “After participating alongside Sting in the reopening of the Bataclan in Paris, then paying tribute at his funeral to Tignous, one of the cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo murdered, then honoring the memory of the victims of the attacks of autumn 2015 during a national tribute by composing an anthem sung by the young Louane, the musician and composer of film music, multi-awarded (Victories of Music, Caesars, Lumières, ...) has become in a few years an essential artist and a symbol of intercultural dialogue to the point of being chosen to interpret the national anthem in front of 6 million viewers on July 14, 2021 at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.” Here are links to his releases, his playlists, an interview, and some videos.

Peter Gabriel began his career as a conventional pop-rock star. “A shy Englishman with a penchant for rock spectacle, a fiercely cerebral writer who champions the liberation of the body and the emotions, and a gatherer of ancient international music who also works on the frontier of interactive technology, Gabriel embraces an array of seemingly incompatible pursuits.” “In 2008 Gabriel received the Ambassador of Conscience award from Amnesty International for the decades of support he had given that organization. The following year the Royal Swedish Academy of Music conveyed upon him the Polar Music Prize for lifetime achievement, stating that Gabriel had ‘redefined the very concept’ of popular music.” “He . . . became well-known as an anti-apartheid activist, for his efforts to bring different styles of international music to the attention of the West by establishing the WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) Festival, his own Real World label and recording studios as well as the addition of world music performers and styles into his own music. He has also worked extensively for Amnesty International as well as many other humanitarian efforts, such as founding his own human rights organization Witness and co-founding, with Richard Branson and Nelson Mandela, world human rights advocacy group The Elders in July 2007. His dedication to humanitarian causes was recognized with the Nobel Peace Laureates' Man of Peace Award in 2006 and Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience honour in 2008.” Here are links to his releases, his playlists, several documentary films, an interview, and some videos.

Compositions:

• Lou Harrison, Concerto for Violin & Percussion Orchestra (Koncerto por la violono kun percuta orkestra) (1959) (approx. 21’), reflects Harrison’s “interest in world music and percussion”.

Music: songs and other short pieces

• Jewel, “Hands” (lyrics)
• Nawang Khechog, “Working for World Peace”

Visual Arts

Film and Stage

• Reds, a dramatization of the life of John Reed, an American Communist who became a renowned journalist, then devoted himself to his idea of justicebut came to realize the dead-ends of the Soviet revolution; the love story enhances the tension of his public commitment
• Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini(The Garden of the Finzi-Continis), making the point that no one is an island in the modern world
• A City of Sadness(Bei qing cheng shi): a film about the political and social tragedy of China in the late 1940s and its effects on well-meaning people