Appuntamento ai Marinai (Italy, 2017) is a documentary about Italians with Eritrean descent born and/or raised in Milan during the 80’s.

The title, Appuntamento ai Marinai – Rendezvous at Marinai Square – is meant to highlight the strong bond between the protagonists of the documentary and some places in Milano. Largo Marinai d’Italia was indeed a rendezvous point for Italian Eritreans.

Written and directed by Italian Eritrean anthropologist and sociologist Ariam Tekle, this project is Tekle’s first directing experience and it tackles issues such as inclusion, citizenship, identity and migration of Italian Eritreans abroad, and stories that emphasize the role of music, a key element of sharing and union.

After the documentary preview Johanne Affricot will introduce Ariam Tekle who will take part to a Q/A session via Skype from New York, where she is currently presenting the documentary.

When and Where
December 1, 6pm
Bellissimo Blue Loft
Via Giuseppe Regaldi 7,  int 12/a, Torino

Limited seating capacity

Sangue Misto – Sound, Identity & Representation aims to explore the artistic path of African Italian artists, the influence of their identity in the creative process, the reasons why there are no African Italian music subgenres (e.g. Grime in England, Afrotrap or Coupé-Decalé in France, or Kuduro and Batida in Portugal,) and to answer questions such as “Do we need platforms and festivals, like Afropunk Festival for example, that can represent us all?” The panel will be introduced by Johanne Affricot, GRIOT founder and creative director, and moderated by Michele and Cedric Kibongui.

Creative process, cultural identity and authenticity

• What is it like to be an Italian artist with African descent?
• What is the artistic language chosen by the artist? How much inspiration do they draw from American hip hop, jazz, soul, or African and Italian music genres?And how do these genre influence their expressive language?
• How does their individual identity connect with the chosen artistic language?
• Why has the African Italian artistic community in Italy not developed local music genres which use a language aimed at representing the face of its contemporary African Italian generations with truthfulness and creativity? In other words, why are there no African Italian music subgenres such as Grime in England, Afrotrap, Zouk or Coupé-Decalé in France and Kuduro or Batida in Portugal?

Representation, independence from mainstream media, ecosystem

Seen as a countercultural phenomenon, the black Italian community isn’t often acknowledged by mainstream media due to the cultural inability to include the African Italian culture into a hegemonic narrative. At the same time, there are important signs of change as black Italian artists are now being included in mainstream tv shows, such as X-Factor Italia and Sanremo.

• Will this situation push the African Italian community to create its own ecosystem, like in the US, the UK or in France?
• How can the various artistic realities support each other to spontaneously and usefully narrate the creative development of the African Italian community?
• How can media platforms like GRIOT or CRUDO VOLTA support African Italian  artists and vice versa?
• What are the opportunities and the limits offered by a medium such as the Internet?

Music and Branding

The traditional music industry is going through a period of crisis and the Internet is mainly sustained by the advertising industry. Therefore, associating with brands, which satisfies the need to connect with specific and authentic stories, seems to be an interesting option for independent artists to financially support their creative endeavors. However, at the moment African Italian artists seem to be a hot topic for political marketing (i.e. the Italian Citizenship Reform), rather than capturing the interest of brands.

• Will artists have to try and be commercially attractive in order to get the attention of brands?
• What are the positive and negative aspects of such relationship?
• Are there any alternatives in order to not lose integrity and artistic independence?

Black Spaces Aggregation

In addition to the limited representation of African Italian artists, another problem seems to be the aggregation of spaces.

• Do we need platforms and festivals, such as Afropunk Festival, that can represent us all?
• What role can artists play in the creation and development of these spaces?

Intro | Johanne Affricot (GRIOT)

Hosts | Michele (Crudo Volta) Cedric Kibongui (dj e events organizer)

Artists | David Blank, Tommy Kuti, Mudimbi, Technoir, Vhelade

When and Where

December 2, 3:30 pm
Bellissimo Blue Loft
Via Giuseppe Regaldi 7,  int 12/a, Torino

Limited seating capacity