By Esra Nurja, Sébastien Francotte and Simon De Clercq

On 14th May 2022, the first edition of Transmissão Maputo was organized by Esra Nurja, Sébastien Francotte and Simon De Clercq. The ambition of the event was to create a platform to facilitate an exchange between Mozambican and international artists across different artforms and broadcast it to a global audience.

Maputo is a city with a rich cultural history and a large number of talented artists. Diverse music styles have a constant presence in the city and there is a vibrant visual arts and spoken word scene. As the capital of Mozambique, Maputo brings together many of the different ethnicities from the rest of the country and other Portuguese-speaking countries, such as Brazil, Angola and Portugal. The cultural and musical influences of neighboring South Africa, as well as those from Nigeria, India and the West, are also clearly felt. In short, Maputo is a city with a unique cultural character that functions as an artistic melting pot in this part of Southern Africa.
However, despite its great arts scene, the general image of Mozambique in the rest of the world is based on headlines about natural disasters, war and corruption. Moreover, the international visibility of Mozambican culture and music is limited and, with few exceptions, focuses on affirming the existing stereotypes of traditional African arts. This does injustice to the diversity and vibrance of the artistic scene that is happening in Maputo.

In order to address these issues, the team decided to organize Transmissão Maputo as a cultural event at a unique location in the city center where Mozambican and international artists had the opportunity to come together to perform. The first edition was attended by more than 150 people and was livestreamed in order to reach a global audience. The line-up included a performance from spoken word artist Sheila Faiane, an acoustic set from singer Beauty Sitoe, a live performance from visual artist Mero Candieiro, exhibitions from digital art creator Wilson Uanheta and photographer Sébastien Francotte, a performance from the Mozambican band AKM and a DJ set from Afro Moment. The event was organized in collaboration with several local organizations, including a music studio, a film studio and a cultural space & restaurant in order to foster networking between them, and to potentially link them with cultural organizations in Europe.

This initiative received financial support from Enabel’s Junior Program, as part of their budget to set up exchange activities to foster networks between different actors of the Sustainable Development Goals, and Enabel’s national office in Mozambique. This event contributed particularly to global targets on education for global citizenship, appreciation of cultural diversity and cultural understanding.

Based on the success of the first edition, the initiative aims to continue to provide international visibility to Mozambican artists, support the professionalization of the event sector in Maputo, as well as inspire other Junior Experts to do the same in their respective countries. Stay tuned to learn about the next edition @transmissaomaputo!