Brahim El Mazned
Brahim El Mazned in 2016
Born1971 (age 52–53)
Essaouira, Morocco
Alma materIbn Zohr University, Agadir
Occupation(s)cultural manager and director of World Music festivals
Known forFestival Timitar, Visa for Music, expert for culture with UNESCO

Brahim El Mazned (born 31 December 1967 in Essaouira, Morocco) is a Moroccan cultural manager and director of World Music festivals, who works to develop popular musical activities around the world, with a focus on Moroccan and African culture. He is the founding director of cultural management organization Anya that promotes Moroccan and African cultural activities. Promoting Amazigh culture, El Mazned has served as the artistic director of the Timitar Festival of World Music in Agadir, Morocco. Further, he is the founding director of Visa for Music, the first festival and professional market for music in Africa and the Middle East.

Career

National and international promotion of creative industries

With more than twenty-five years of experience in the Moroccan cultural world, El Mazned has become notable for the promotion of World Music as well as for the organization of major artistic and cultural events on an international level. He has served as a jury member for cultural events in Africa, Europe, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and South America. Further, he has hosted conferences, meetings, artistic residencies and cultural projects in more than 50 countries around the world.[1][2]

In 2009, El Mazned was invited to manage the cultural preselection for the North Africa and Middle East region for the 6th Francophonie Games in Beirut, Lebanon. In the same capacity, he also worked for the 2013 edition of the games in Nice, France, and for the 2017 edition in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.[3][4]

Member of the UE/UNESCO expert facility from 2019 to 2022, an international group of recognized experts with experience in designing and implementing policies to support cultural and creative activities, he has worked as consultant for UNESCO in the fields of cultural policy and creative industries.[5][6]

Activities

Cultural events and networks

El Mazned is the artistic director of the Timitar Festival of World Music, created in 2004 in Agadir. This festival, mainly dedicated to Amazigh culture, has become one of the important events celebrating African musical traditions. For its 17th edition in 2022, the festival was attended by more than 380,000 spectators.[7][8][9]

Over the years, El Mazned has initiated artistic residencies in several countries and regions around the world, including France, Spain, Greece, Réunion, New Caledonia, Madagascar, Mali, Tunisia, Mauritania, Lebanon and Brazil. Further, he has participated in the creation of a dozen albums and hundreds of concerts in festivals and venues in several countries.[10][11]

Further, El Mazned is a member of several cultural institutions, including the European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals (EFWMF), Hiba Foundation, All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) and the Global Music Market Network (GloMMnet). In 2016, he created MoMEx, an export office for the promotion of Moroccan music throughout the world.[1]

Publishing

As producer of musical recordings, El Mazned works for the preservation and presentation of Morocco's intangible heritage, particularly for the musical arts of the Amazigh musical tradition of the Aïta and the Rrways musicians. For this, he founded the Atlas Azawan association and produced musical albums through his Anya cultural management company.[12] Until 2022, he oversaw the artistic direction of the following three works: the anthology Chioukhs et Cheikhates de l'Aïta which received the Académie Charles Cros Prize in 2017. The anthology Rrways, a journey into the universe of itinerant Amazigh poet-singers was awarded another prize by the Académie Charles Cros in 2021 and with the Coup de cœur Musiques du monde Prize".[13][14] In July 2022, he published the illustrated book The Art of the Rrways.[15]

Visa For Music

In 2014, El Mazned became the founding director of Visa For Music, an important festival and professional market for music in Africa and the Middle East.[16] This festival has since taken place every year in November in Rabat, the capital city of Morocco. It aims to promote musical creations and cultural diversity of both Moroccan and international artists with an African or Middle Eastern background.[17]

Logo of ANYA cultural agency

Anya cultural agency

Founded by Brahim El Mazned and under the direction of Keltouma Bakrimi, the mission of the Anya cultural agency is to participate in the restructuring of the value chain of the Moroccan music sector and to support artists and cultural operators in Morocco.[18] The company has developed various projects of creation, distribution and promotion of music, for example the UNESCO project Jazz Women in Africa in 2021,[19][20][21]Rési' Jazz[22] and the Artistic Marathon.[23]

Awards and recognitions

El Mazned was featured as one of the hundred best leaders in sustainable cultural development in the guide for cultural diversity “Les Aventuriers de la Culture.” He also figured on the list of the hundred people who move and promote Morocco, a yearly list published by the Moroccan weekly magazine TelQuel. In addition, Brahim El Mazned was named in the book Those who inspire - Morocco as an inspiring personality of the Moroccan cultural sector.[24]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Diversity of cultural expressions". UNESCO. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  2. ↑ "Entretien avec Brahim El Mazned, militant et entrepreneur culturel". www.maroc-hebdo.press.ma (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  3. ↑ "El Mazned | Jeux de la francophonie". www.jeux.francophonie.org. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  4. ↑ ""Il est temps d'enseigner la musique traditionnelle dans nos conservatoires"". ALBAYANE (in French). 2018-04-01. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  5. ↑ MATIN, H. S. , LE. "Brahim El Mazned rejoint la Banque d'expertise de l'Unesco". lematin.ma (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "Expert Facility". Diversity of Cultural Expressions. 2018-02-15. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  7. ↑ "Plus de 380.000 spectateurs au Festival Timitar". L'Economiste (in French). 2022-07-18. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  8. ↑ L'Opinion (2022-07-18). "Agadir / 17è Festival Timitar : Plus de 380.000 spectateurs ont célébré la joie des retrouvailles". L'Opinion Maroc - Actualité et Infos au Maroc et dans le monde. (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  9. ↑ SALLOUK, Nour-Eddine. "Entretien avec Brahim El Mazned, directeur artistique du Festival Timitar : "60 % du plateau est national"". Libération (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  10. ↑ "Le Maroc transcende ses traditions | Musée de l'histoire de l'immigration". www.histoire-immigration.fr (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  11. ↑ "Amarg N-Rrways, le legs des troubadours du Souss en quête de préservation". MAP Express (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  12. ↑ "Comment sauvegarder l'art ancestral de l'Aita? Brahim El Mazned répond". Medi1 News (in French). 2022-09-16. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  13. ↑ "L'Anthologie sur l'art des Rrways primée en France". ALBAYANE (in French). 2021-03-11. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  14. ↑ ALM (2017-03-21). "L'anthologie «Chikhates et chioukhs de l'aïta» récompensée par l'Académie Charles Cros". Aujourd'hui le Maroc (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  15. ↑ "Le Beau-livre des Rrways en vente". Actuelles - Magazine de la femme marocaine (in French). 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  16. ↑ Laabi, Tayeb. "Brahim El Mazned: "Tout est une question d'organisation et de méthode de travail"". Mediapart (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  17. ↑ MAP Rabat (20 November 2022). "Visa for Music : Diversité musicale et culturelle en clôture du festival".
  18. ↑ "Lieux et structures culturels Maroc - ANYA". www.moroccanmusicconnect.ma (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-01.
  19. ↑ "Jazz Women in Africa". UNESCO. 2021-04-18. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  20. ↑ "Journée internationale du Jazz: le concert « JazzWomenAfrica » sera diffusé en ligne le 30 avril". Le Desk (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  21. ↑ MATIN, LE. "Le "Jazz Women Africa" diffusée en ligne le 30 avril 2022". lematin.ma (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  22. ↑ "Concert "Rési'Jazz" de sortie de résidence d'artistes marocains et tunisiens".
  23. ↑ Firdaous, Kawtar (2022-04-13). "Anya. La saison culturelle s'annonce riche et variée". LobservateurDuMaroc (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  24. ↑ "Brahim El Mazned, Morocco, Books, Inspiring, Mentor, Read, Inspire". Those Who Inspire. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
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