WOMEX Calls for Proposals And Announces 7 Samurai

Berlin/Katowice: WOMEX – the World Music Expo – have opened their annual call for proposals for its 23rd edition, taking place in Katowice, Poland in October. Musicians, speakers and film-makers worldwide are called upon to apply to the jury comprised of seven international experts.WOMEX, global music’s largest and most important meeting and marketplace calls for applications for their Showcases (including DJs), the Conference and Film programme. As WOMEX director Alexander Walter has it in his message to the delegates:

“Let’s get the ball rolling! Every year the call for proposals marks the first major step of the WOMEX year: it is time to shape the content of the event! And like every year, we are looking forward to receiving a diverse pool of conference, showcase and film proposals from our community.”

As booking cycles tend to happen earlier in the industry, the call is due earlier than usual:

The jury is set to select from the many, many proposals expected, forming a programme that reflects the broad range of music across the world, ranging from very traditional to very modern (and all juxtapositions in between), across all continents and across all styles, shapes and sizes in which music manifests itself on the world’s stages today.The seven global music experts comprising the jury are by tradition called the 7 Samurai. Five of them will go through many hundreds of showcase and DJ proposals , and two more will deal with the wide range of conference proposals, amongst them Kaisha S. Johnson, Founding Director of Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA), who is looking forward to the task:

“With such a long history of practical, provocative and engaging professional development sessions, WOMEX has always been at the nexus of art and ideas. As a believer that world music, in particular, has  the ability to provoke authentic dialogues around social and political issues, and initiate shifts to the status quo, I’m honoured to be selected to serve as a WOMEX Conference Samurai and have WOCA contribute to a growing global dialogue.”

Those who have been to WOMEX know about the broad range and high quality of upcoming and sky-rocketing bands and solo artists. WOMEX constantly seeks to push their programme’s boundaries and invites players from jazz, popular and dance music circles as well as political and NGO scenes to engage with their community next October in Katowice.

The jury selections will be announced throughout spring and summer together with additional programme.