Undeterred by Lockdown 2, Edinburgh Multicultural Festival is now underway with an exciting online programme of storytelling, theatre, music, poetry and dance.
It features poets Roshni Gallagher and Titilayo Farukuoye in collaboration with music artist Diljit Bhachu and projection artist Robert Motyka, dance artist Daniel Monteiro, theatre makers Lubna Kerr and Ida Casilli performing their respective shows Tick Box and Moving Dreams, as well as music acts including a Taiwanese classical composer Oli Jan, a Middle-Eastern traditional music group duo Hyperborea, an Afrobeat/Rap band Ramuyapiko, and a Vocal Collective of South African Singers who will grace the screens throughout the 2020/21 autumn/winter season.
“Thanks to the support from the City of Edinburgh Council Culture Service, we are able to create development and performance opportunities for independent artists from ethnically diverse backgrounds and curate and commission new collaborations between performance and visual artists,” says Morgan Njobo, festival Artistic Director. “With this filmed programme we aim to showcase multi-artform and multilingual talent that is part of the fabric of Edinburgh’s culture and communities,” adds the Soweto-bred vocalist and choreographer, known to Fringe-goers for his performances with Soweto Entsha and original dance and music productions of I Am Rhythm and Sowhereto Africa.
Apart from new exciting artistic exchanges, this year also offers two new curatorial collaborations with poet Raheema Sayed and Edinburgh Diwali.
Filmed live performances from the festival programme are being made available on a bi-weekly basis via the festival’s YouTube and social media channels. “We marked the last day of Black History Month with a selection of African classics in new arrangements by me, performed by Natalie Toyne, Khanyisani Beato, Zanele Patricia Ndlovu, Lwando Bam and Oratile Letsholo. These songs of resilience, freedom and joy will reflect on the spirit of Africans across the continent and around the world. So, join us, this time online, and enjoy the vibrancy of our voices, stories, and dance,” invites Morgan.
For more information see the website www.edmcf.co.uk/2020