The fourth edition of Botswana International Music Conference (BIMC) will be held from today (Wednesday November 28) to Friday November 30, 2018. This year the event will be held at the iconic Little Theatre, National Museum in Gaborone Main Mall.
Delegates from South Africa, Lesotho, Re Union Islands, Uganda, Swaziland, Kenya and Mozambique are expected to attend the event. The BIMC event curating team resolved to introduce a Traditional Music Event on the 29th November 2018 “Lebebe la Setso” to be held at the 3 Chiefs Monument on the 29th November 2018 from 1900 until late. The festival will present an opportunity for local traditional, setinkane and four string guitar artists to show their musical prowess to international music promoters from festivals such as Bushfire Festival Swaziland, Doa Doa Festival Uganda, Bayimba Festival Uganda, Africa Day Fest South Africa, Azgo Festival Mozambique, Oppikoppi South Africa and others.
The lineup of the festival will comprise international traditional folk group Topak from Re Union Islands and two traditional groups from Sikhukhune in Limpopo who will be showcasing ‘Setepe sa Lenyalo’ genre. Local artists’ line up was yet to be revealed at the time of going to press. BIMC theme for 2018 is ‘Music Is My Business’. “This is a bold statement which simply implies the music industry is the livelihood of everyone. The theme also challenges those with talent to know and respect their talent as it is a business that can build wealth for their children,” says founder Seabelo Modibe.
BIMC has 27 local and international Speakers lined up to speak and present at the Conference with some of the few interesting names being Advocate Nhlanhla Sibisi (CEO of Recording Industry of Southern Africa), Advocate Elizabeth Lenjo (Media and Entertainment Lawyer from Kenya who also sits in the Kenya Copyright Arbitration Panel), Brad Holmes (Bassline Africa), Karabo Senna (SAMRO), Karabo Motitjoane (Sheer Publishing), and Mandla Maseko (Limpopo Arts Foundation).
“This year we will use the music conference to walk in the shoes of our traditional music icons and explore ways it can be commercialized and preserved,” Modibe says. “We will explore opportunities for young people who want to venture into various other fields of the music industry such as event management, artist management, and publishing. We have created a platform where participants can interact with the speakers on a one on one basis through speed meetings.” He says the event will breathe fresh air into the industry with an official keynote address on the opening day by Minister of Youth empowerment, Sports and Culture Development Thapelo Olopeng. Participation is strictly by registration on a first come first served basis. Only 100 seats available. To register: Send an SMS to 74023777 with you full names and surname or Email [email protected] and leave your full name and surname or register online at www.bimc.co.bw .
