We are thrilled to share the WOMEX Award Recipients for 2021. While both the Awards are notable for diverse reasons, Artist Award adds another motivation to attend WOMEX in person. It gives us an exclusive chance to experience the Artist Award Recipient perform on-site every year.
As with every year, the WOMEX Awards celebrates and honours exceptional achievements in global music on the international level; musical excellence, social importance, commercial success, political impact, lifetime achievement – any or all of these might make one a worthy recipient. Since 1999, the impressive list of Award recipients continues to grow, and with the 2021 edition, we are proud to add two more extraordinary recipients for the Artist and the Professional Excellence Award.
WOMEX 21 Artist Award
Aynur
It is for her long-term dedication to the preservation and innovation of Kurdish and Alevi culture, for maintaining the highest artistic integrity in the face of political pressure and, in doing so, for being a model for all that sing against the silencers, that Aynur Doğan is a very worthy recipient of the WOMEX 21 Artist Award.
As both a Kurd and an Alevi, Aynur Doğan’s cultural heritage has always been subject to discriminatory laws and public persecution, whether in the small mountain town of Çemişgezek where she grew up, or the metropolis of Istanbul. At its core, Aynur’s music is based on Kurdish folk songs.
This October, Aynur, WOMEX 21 Artist Award Recipient, will be performing live at Teatro Rivoli in Porto on Sunday, 31 October 2021.
The Artist award recognises the achievements of an individual artist or a musical group and celebrates those who excel in the mastery of musical craft, who embody artistic distinction, dynamism and creativity, who use music as a medium of positive change and offer a unique and committed vision.
WOMEX 21 Professional Excellence Award
Global Music Match
The past year and a half has been one of the most drastic and challenging periods of change in the history of the international music industry. Almost at once, and with very little warning, a world’s worth of live music disappeared, and musicians and audiences alike scrambled to find new ways of reaching each other without leaving their homes. But adversity leads to innovation, and that’s where Global Music Match comes in. The heart of the premise is simple: folk- and roots-based musicians uplifting and promoting each other, mobilising each other’s audiences and creating new professional networks.
After two editions, 172 artists – and many thousands of fans – have participated and benefitted from this mutual support network and inspirational knowledge exchange with the help of music export offices from 17 countries and regions from around the world. For creating, at such short notice, a new and innovative platform that has already seen long-lasting and tangible benefits, for celebrating musical diversity, and for being a source of optimism and comfort to musicians in a time of great struggle, we are delighted that Global Music Match will receive the WOMEX 21 Professional Excellence Award.
The Professional Excellence award honours exceptional achievements of an individual, group or organisation in music. Musical excellence, cultural significance, advocacy and activism, lifetime achievement and commercial success without compromise are all elements that may determine the Award Recipient.
More about the WOMEX Awards.
article posted by:Gideon Elfgen, Piranha Arts