2009 – 2010
In 2009 – 10, Nedland Kultur, in collaboration with Mimeta and the record company KKV, compiled music from Kenya and Tanzania for a CD called “Imagine Africa”. The name of the record is shared with a a campaign organised by Mimeta in Norway, in partnership with the Goree Institute located on Goree Island in Dakar, Senegal. The campaign is based on the ARTerial Network. The aim is to constitute a global initiative for promoting and strengthening African arts and reasoning. The CD is part of this initiative, and features a rich selection of modern East African music.
East African music has been less known internationally than music from other parts of the African continent. During the last few years the music in Kenya and Tanzania has developed and become much more exposed internationally, and the “Imagine Africa” compilation shows what riches are to be found in the music styles of Kenya and Tanzania. 13 artists and groups, 7 from Kenya and 6 from Tanzania, have contributed music of a rich variety of styles, from rap to folk to pop to traditional , demonstrating the high quality level East African music productions have reached.
“Our aim is to give people access to free artistic expressions created on independent terms, in support of article 27 of the Universal Human Rights Declaration”
This is how Mimeta introduce themselves on their webpage: http://www.mimeta.org/. Mimeta was formed in 2006 in Kristiansand, Norway, an organisation working in culture and development. They were one of the main partners behind the CD “Imagine Africa”
The record company KKV released the CD, and founder and leader Erik Hillestad and Sigbjørn Nedland have collaborated on several CD productions.
More than just music.
Mimeta is working with all forms of cultural expressions, and KKV is a record company that has always been focused on quality both in the music itself, in the production and sound quality, and in the visual presentation of the music. Therefore it was only natural for Nedland Kultur to propose that one should use the CD also to promote the Tanzanian tradition of the naivistic tinga tinga painting style. The Dar Es Salaam based artist Ibra painted the picture that became the cover of the album, and that set the tone for the whole design of the packaging of the CD.
nedlandkultur.com 