as part of Oltre le mura / Beyond the walls
a Fabbrica Europa project for Autunno Fiorentino 2026

The Music, Orality, Participation project comes to a close with this concert, featuring Senegalese griot and musician Badara Seck, Moroccan musician Amine Ezzalzouli, Senegalese percussionist Matar Mbaye, cellist Alice Chiari, and Senegalese kora player Edouard Manga. The concert brings together the experiences that emerged throughout the workshops that have shaped this project.

Different identities, cultures, and forms of expression come into dialogue through music, creating a space for encounter and participation in which differences become an opportunity for discovery, exchange, and shared growth.

Badara Seck is a Senegalese singer, songwriter and performer, born into a historic griot family — figures who play a central role in West African societies, whose role is to orally transmit collective memory, history, poetry and music within their communities. A charismatic artist endowed with extraordinary vocal abilities, he has built an international career combining music, theatre, performance and cultural mediation, moving naturally between African traditions and contemporary Western artistic languages. His artistic practice is strongly characterised by intercultural dialogue, experimentation across genres and social engagement, with particular attention to themes of identity, migration, memory and encounters between peoples.

Amine Ezzalzouli, a Moroccan musician, embodies the spiritual and ritual essence of tradition through driving rhythms, spiritual chants and the use of traditional instruments. His music, influenced by Sufism, has evolved through encounters with other genres, contributing to its international reach.

Matar Mbaye, a Senegalese percussionist and singer, comes from a family of griots and is a second-generation artist (his father was the director and his mother the principal dancer of the National Ballet of Senegal). Since the 1990s, he has lived and worked between Senegal and Italy. He regularly leads African percussion courses and workshops.

Alice Chiari, a singer and multi-instrumentalist with a degree in cello, is a founding member of the duo Magosanto. Always searching for her own distinctive sounds, she has spent years experimenting with electronics and sound effects and has collaborated extensively across music, theatre and dance.

Susannah Iheme is a dancer, performer, and educator. Her artistic practice spans the performing arts, cultural participation, and social inclusion. Her research explores the relationship between performance and visual arts. She is a Dance Well facilitator, leading dance practices for people with Parkinson’s, and collaborates with the Sollicciano Prison Theatre Company. She is president of the European ROOTS&ROUTES network, which focuses on cultural diversity and social inclusion in youth work.

OLTRE LE MURA | Beyond the Walls is a project by Fondazione Fabbrica Europa as part of Autunno Fiorentino 2026.

photo (detail): Giampaolo Becherini