Tsikaya, músicos do interior

oktober 2009 -

Tsikaya.org is more than a web site: it is the first Angolan digital music archive. Over the last 12 years the Angolan Victor Gama has collected music from the provinces Huíla, Cunene, Bengela and Cuando-Cubango in the southwest part of his native country. The best 22 tracks are now online and on CD.

www.tsikaya.org, oktober 2009

If you zoom in on the Google folder on the Tsikaya-web site you can almost see the house of Abel Shialupa from Luongo, the group LDDR (Lideres da Difusão Romântica Rural) from Kipungo or the other participating musicians and groups. The photos, videos and audio files that appear after clicking the location on a small screen make the web site more vivid. The musicians are no longer anonymous figures from the Angolan countryside that has been ravaged by war for so long, but individuals who are working seriously on their music and who have a message.

The Tsikaya project also attempts to stimulate both the musician's creativity and recognition for their music. Most of the proceeds from the CD, which can be purchased in the FNAC stores in Portugal and online from the iTunes Store and from Amazon as MP3s, go to the musicians and their communities. Another objective of the project is to keep traditional musical instruments from falling into oblivion and to maintain these instruments for future generations of Angolans

www.tsikaya.org

Last year, the Tsikaya project received financing from the Prince Claus Fund.