Spotlight on Kenyan Music programme
The Spotlight on Kenyan music project, an initiative of Alliance Française de Nairobi , continues to span the spotlight across Kenya’s vast and diverse terrain. Setting the bench mark in the promotion of the living expressions of Kenyan communities, through musical innovation and exposure, this unique project is continues to nurture the development of contemporary music rooted in the country’s rich musical heritage.
Alliance Française de Nairobi launched the Spotlight on Kenyan Music project in 2005 with the generous support of the Embassy of France and Total Kenya and in partnership with the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture .
Four volumes of Spotlight audio compilations were produced in its first four years (2005 -2008), with 44 deserving artists featured in these series. In 2010, Alliance Française launched the ‘Weapon of Mass Reconciliation’, a CD/DVD compilation that documents the Spotlight on Kenyan Music journey and the national tour of a selection of Spotlight artists organized in 2008 in an effort to promote ‘unity in diversity’ following the 2008 post-election crisis.
Alliance Française launched Vol. 5 of the Spotlight series in June 2012. This latest volume has been made possible with the sustained support of the Embassy of France and Total Kenya , as well as additional funding from the European Union through the Non State Actors Support Programme: NSA NET ‘Vital Voices and Culture: Increasing People Participation in Good Governance and Development’ which is being implemented by the Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs. Focusing on music of Northern Kenya, this CD/DVD compilation sheds light on the cultural expressions of some of Kenya’s vulnerable and marginalized communities. It is a unique product bringing together for the first time in the history of Kenyan popular music, a collection of extraordinary voices and sounds from Northern Kenyan communities. Arranged to modern rhythms, this music has been described as refreshing, invigorating and distinctive.