The Power of Culture

The CinemAsaia Film Festival is strikingly popular among young Dutch people with Asian roots, a group that is active within their own closed circuit in particular and therefore difficult to reach.

"It’s challenging and stimulating but also very complex. We are four composers and over the next few days will discuss who is going to compose what." Tunde Jegede is a cellist, kora player and composer. He is of Nigerian stock and lives in London, where he pursues musical projects that span African and European cultures. Jegede is a member of the artistic team that is busy creating the Sahel Opera, the ambitious project conceived by Prince Claus as a top-notch showcase for the presentation of African talent to European audiences.

"Internet has triggered a revolution in Arabic literature," said the Algerian poet Lamis Saidi during Winternachten 2008. The Internet has made it possible for writers to reach a global public without a publisher as intermediary.

A team of four composers from the Sahel has been selected to compose the first opera for that region. The Sahel Opera, which is an initiative of the Prince Claus Fund, is to premiere next May in Mali.

The Vredeseilanden organisation was looking for someone to put on a theatrical production in Costa Rica about fair trade. In the end they chose me. I held auditions in Costa Rica and picked some members of the Theater Magos del Tiempo group. Together, we have created the Corazón de Café production.'