Musiques Métisses is an annual French music festival held in early summer. The festival was created in 1976 by Christian Mousset in

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 2015, the American author Eddy L.Harris took over as president of the festival.

History

Musiques Métisses was originally named "Jazz en France" and was first devoted to jazz, French, and European improvised music. The festival quickly began to integrate popular and urban music from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. It was the first event in France to highlight artists from the country's colonial territories, whose audience was limited, until then, to the

DOM-TOM Overseas France (french: France d'outre-mer) consists of 13 French-administered territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that chose to remain a part of the French state under various statuses after decolo ...

's audience. In 1985, the festival was renamed "Musiques Métisses." The festival played a pioneering role by showcasing the richness and diversity of current music of the South and its importance in the "world sound." Many internationally renowned musicians made their French stage debut in Angoulême. Some well-known performers include

Salif Keita Salif Keïta () (born 25 August 1949) is a Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the "Golden Voice of Africa". He is a member of the Keita royal family of Mali. Biography Early life Salif Keita was born a traditional prince in the village o ...

Johnny Clegg Jonathan Paul Clegg, (7 June 195316 July 2019) was a South African musician, singer-songwriter, dancer, anthropologist and anti-apartheid activist, some of whose work was in musicology focused on the music of indigenous South African people ...

, Bonga,

Geoffrey Oryema Geoffrey Oryema (16 April 1953 – 22 June 2018) was a Ugandan musician. In 1977 after the murder of his father, Erinayo Wilson Oryema, who was a cabinet minister in the government of Idi Amin, he began his life in exile. At the age of 24, and a ...

, Khaled,

Cheb Mami Mohamed Khelifati ( ar, محمد خليفاتي, ), better known by his stage name Cheb Mami ( ar, شاب مامي, link=no, , born 11 July 1966), is an Algerian musician and singer-songwriter. He sings and speaks in Algerian Arabic and sometim ...

Cesaria Evora Cesaria may refer to: * Cesaria River, an old name for the Cohansey River *Cesária ''Cesária'' is the fifth album by Cesária Évora. The album, consisting of Cape Verdean morna and coladeira songs, was released by Paris-based Lusafrica on 1 ...

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Celia Cruz Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during t ...

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, Danyel Waro, Rokia Traore,

Kassav Kassav' is a French Caribbean band formed in Guadeloupe in 1979. The core members of the band are Jacob Desvarieux, Jocelyne Béroard, Jean-Philippe Marthély, Patrick St. Eloi, Jean-Claude Naimro, Claude Vamur, and Georges Décimus (who left t ...

Doudou N'diaye Rose Doudou Ndiaye Rose (born Mamadou Ndiaye; 28 July 1930 – 19 August 2015) was a Senegalese drummer, composer and band leader, and was the recognized modern master of Senegal's traditional drum, the sabar. He was the father of a musical dynasty t ...

Ismael Lo Ismael may refer to: People * Ismael Balkhi, a political activist from Afghanistan * Ismael Blanco (born 1983), an Argentine professional footballer * Ismael Prego "Wismichu", a Spanish youtuber * Ismael Villegas, a Puerto Rican Major League ...

, Fal Frett, Elida Almeida and many more. The purpose of the festival is to showcase and support diversity and cultural blending. The festival facilitates the circulation of artists, contributes to the enrichment of musical colours by promoting exchange, meeting, and creation, and supports and develops the careers of young, emerging performers. In 1999, the festival expanded to include literary meetings called "Littératures Métisses" during the festival. The literary programming is led by Bernard Magnier, director of the Africa collection at the publishing house

Actes Sud Actes Sud is a French publishing house based in Arles. It was founded in 1978 by author Hubert Nyssen. By 2013, the company, then headed by Nyssen's daughter, Françoise Nyssen, had an annual turnover of 60 million euros and 60 staff members. ...

. In 2015, Eddy L. Harris, a 10-year resident of

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

, was named the new president of the festival. He took over the presidency with the intention of saving the festival from a deficit through a 9-year turnaround plan.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.musiques-metisses.com World music festivals in Europe