September 21, 2006
By Lucky Sindane
THE third annual Moshito conference and exhibition kicked off on Wednesday in Newtown with the City of Johannesburg pledging to uplift local musicians.
Moshito '06, which runs until Friday, 22 September at Museum Africa is South African music industry's showcase event. It aims to unite the industry and provide opportunities for undiscovered talent.
"People need to go out of here knowing what Moshito is about. Moshito doesn't implement resolutions taken from various workshops, it's a stimulator of thoughts," said Moshito chairperson, Nick Motsatse.
Hundreds of musicians gathered at Museum Africa to share ideas and find solutions to challenges they are faced with on a day-to-day basis in the music industry.
Some of the challenges, which were raised at the conference, include piracy, local content in radio stations and bringing international artists to perform in South Africa instead of using local talent.
"When the movie Tsotsi won an Oscar we were driving around the streets of Joburg celebrating and we were shocked to learn that the DVD was on sale on the streets," said the City's director for arts, culture and heritage, Steven Sack.
"We had to put a stop to it by deploying the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department officers and arresting the culprits," added Sack.
Addressing the issue of local content, Sack said, "In this year's Arts Alive festival we sat and thought that we can use our budget of R39 million over three years to support developing artists".
"Instead of spending lots of money by bringing international artists we decided to showcase local artists," he added.
Part of the conference is an exhibition themed 'Sounds of a Country' which will look at key aspects of South Africa's rich, vibrant musical heritage and will highlight the musicians and music styles that have played the biggest role in shaping and developing South Africa's culture and heritage.
The exhibition aims to show how the music of a sub-continent, a unique home brew, developed by combining elements of the new with the traditions of the old, how it borrowed different styles and instruments, and how it breathed new life and infused the rhythms of southern Africa into them.
"The fact that the conference is held at Museum Africa gives us an opportunity to see all the old music instruments on display during the exhibition," said Sack.
"The city has social funds for NGOs and we want to make those funds available to up and coming artists," concluded Sack.
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