Since 2010 the Festival au Désert/presenze d’Africa connects Florence to Timbuktu through culture and music and has become an important meeting point between Tuareg, Malian, Berber musicians with artists of the European and international scene.
A free zone in which – as was the case until 2012 with the Festival au Désert of Timbuktu, now interrupted by the war – the artists involved have the opportunity to meet, discuss, and are invited to play together, with the objective of giving life to concerts, jam sessions and original musical productions to be presented to the audience in the fascinating surroundings of the Complesso Le Murate of Florence.
The public acclaim, the interest shown by media, the collaboration of organizations and local and international institutions, gave the festival a national resonance and positively emphasize the choice to create in the spaces of the former prison of Le Murate a place of freedom where to live and to rethink the concept of “desert” in an open, contemporary and anthropological way: a place of memory that becomes a social space for discovering other cultures through music, meetings, food and handcraft stands.

PROGRAMME

THURSDAY, JULY 24
– 7:00pm meeting Water right: desert and climate change, meeting with Mauro Perini, president of Water Right Foundation; Pietro Laureano, architect and urban planner, UNESCO consultant for arid zones and water management; Giulio Betti, Consortium LaMMA – IBIMET; Giancarlo Della Luna, Association Transafrica –
– 8:00pm screening of the documentary Playing for change directed by Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls

Concerts
– 9:00pm Sandro Joyeux (France/Italy) plays Boubacar Traoré
– 9:30pm Ahmed Ag Kaedi, guitar (Mali) + Riccardo Onori, guitar
– 10:00pm Voodoo Sound Club + Ahmed Ag Kaedi, guitar (Mali)

FRIDAY, JULY 25
– 7:00pm screening of the film documentary Toumast – Guitars and kalashnikovs directed by Dominique Margot

Concerts
– 9:00pm Said Tichiti (Morocco) guembrì, Dimitri Grechi Espinoza, sax
– 9:30pm Oum (Morocco) – Damian Nueva, bass – Fettah El Houssaini – percussions
– 10:00 Ginevra Di Marco, vocals – Francesco Magnelli, keyboard
– 10:30pm AZALAI – Musiques du Monde with
Oum, vocals – Said Tichiti, guembrì – Ahmed Ag Kaedi, guitar, Damian Nueva, bass – Fettah El Houssaini, percussions – Andrea Melani, drums – Riccardo Onori, guitar – Dimitri Grechi Espinoza, sax

Within Estate fiorentina 2014
www.estatefiorentina.it
In collaboration with Regione Toscana, Comune di Firenze, Institut francais Firenze, Coop, Publiacqua,
Water Right Foundation, Le Murate PAC, Mus.e, Caffè Letterario Le Murate, Transafrica, Le Carceri, SDIAF

[photos: Marco Borrelli]

PHOTOGALLERY