HEARTBEAT
BACKGROUND
HeartBeat is a project that focuses on cultural exchange between and within countries across the world on street level. Hiphop has become a freedom of speech and mode of expression that floats across borders and boundaries, a universal form of poetry reflecting people’s lives, perspectives and circumstances. Hiphop is an art form that can create awareness, understanding as well as cooperation, and this is why hiphop is the corner stone in our goal to encourage cultural exchange and upliftment. Hiphop includes rap, dance, DJing and visual arts and we hope to connect people from very different backgrounds through this media.
PROJECT
A competition is held on the 6th & 7th of October 2006 in Cape Town, South Africa. The battle is between young Hip Hop artists that mostly come from unprivileged backgrounds, and therefore have difficulties in entering the capital market. The jury consists of prominent persons from the Danish and South African Hip Hop/ DJ communites i.e. Carla Cammilla Hjort (Dyken), Thandi (Princess T), DJ China and Solomon.
The winning prize is a tour to Denmark in November 2006 where the group will perform at venues including RUST, Vega, The Gray Hall, Gimle etc. Furthermore the tour is documented and released in DVD format. This DVD will include some of the winning group’s tracks and the event from pre-competition in SA till the group’s last performance in Copenhagen.
OBJECTIVES
The project gives the opportunity for upcoming Hip Hop groups in South Africa to connect/ perform with Copenhagen’s youth who share the same interests, though they come from very different backgrounds. Another ambition behind the project is to show a new and more positive side of South Africa than the image of a corrupt and criminal society that is often exposed in the media. The intention with documenting the whole process is to expose how different life circumstances can be, how different yet similar the youth’s interests and life perspectives are, and how the group from South Africa experiences a European country and its people.
Moreover, HeartBeat invites the opportunity to generate socio-economic upliftment on many levels, since it creates a platform were there is a possibility to:
- Link with DJ and hiphop “schools” in the ghettos of Cape Town,
- Link productions from young groups in South Africa, among other countries, to the EU market in form of tours, DVD/CDs and documentary making,
- Contributors will be offered to be advertised where ever possible i.e. on projectors, posters,
flyers and on the DVD/CDs covers.
FUTURE GOAL
We wish to run HeartBeat as an annual event to establish continuous cultural exchange. This year the focus is on the youth of South Africa, nevertheless, next year it may be young Hip Hop artists from the favelas of Brazil. The main purpose is to focus on the youth that have difficulties in entering the capital market and in being heard. HeartBeat wants to support freedom of speech and cultural exchange by connecting the youth from all over the world through arts and music.
THE PROGRAM
Tuesday 07 November
Arrival Copenhagen
Visit to The Danish Cultural Institute: Welcome and introduction to Denmark
Wednesday 08 November
Performance at Gimle, Helligkorsvej 2, 4000 Roskilde
Thursday 09 November
Workshop by the Danish Cultural Institute
Friday 10 November
Performance at Den Graa Hal, Christiania, Refshalevej 2, Koebenhavn K
Wednesday 15 November
Farewell Performance at Rust, Guldbergsgade 8, 2200 Koebenhavn N
Thursday 16 November
Departure from Copenhagen
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