Music Freedom Day was celebrated in a carnival mood in Harare on 3 March 2011 at the Book Café.
Over a hundred music hungry punters attended the event organised by leading arts organisations Magamba the Cultural Activist Network and Pamberi Trust.
It kicked off with a powerful hip-hop set by Harare's hip spoken word band Outspoken & the Essence.
The show was closed by the popular Alexio and Shades of Black. Throughout the night Aura, one of Harare's leading MCs, spoke of the need for freedom of musical expression while revving up the crowd at the same time.
Magamba is a grassroots organisation using arts for positive social change while Pamberi Trust runs two of Harare’s leading arts venues as well as various arts projects.
Music Freedom Day is an annual event where musicians, music clubs, cultural institutions, broadcasters and media join Freemuse in the celebration of freedom of musical expression. Read more...
Arts journalists and musicians met on 10 March 2011 in Harare at the Book Café to explore and understand issues related to music freedom and its impact in Zimbabwe
Music Freedom Day 2011: An exiled DJ returns to Kabul, music is smuggled out from Burma, and Freemuse hands over an award to an imprisoned singer in Cameroon
“Buying artists to advance some political party’s cause may not be censorship, but more often than not, it will lead to self-censorship,” writes Mike van Graan from South Africa
“Music has become a potent weapon in the struggles for freedom across the Arab world, but let’s bear in mind that the situation could change for the worse,” writes Mark LeVine
Singer Ferhat Tunç wrote this article as a personal comment to the Music Freedom Day initiative, describing the current situation for more than a dozen musicians in his country
Close to 2,000 music composers in Zimbabwe protest, asking the national broadcaster to stop playing music for six hours on this year’s Music Freedom Day
The singer and human rights activist Win Maw continues his struggle for freedom of expression from the prison. Freemuse received three new songs from him.
Audio interview with Generation Wave - a group of Burmese hip-hop artists and activists - about freedom of expression and censorship among musicians in their country
