THE WOW FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES WOW SOUNDS LINE-UP
TO CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
- WOW SOUNDS WILL SHOWCASE MUSICAL PERFORMANCES BY WOMEN, GIRLS AND NON-BINARY ARTISTS AS PART OF WOW FESTIVAL UK 2021 THROUGHOUT MARCH
- ACTS WILL SPAN COUNTRIES AND GENRES – FROM MALI TO INDONESIA, WITH METAL TO FOLK TO TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTATION
- LINE UP TO INCLUDE UK ARTISTS ANOUSHKA SHANKAR, AYANNA WITTER-JOHNSON, MISS BABY SOL, ANAIIS AND NUBYA GARCIA
- GROUNDBREAKING INTERNATIONAL ACTS INCLUDE KIMMORTAL, VOICE OF BACEPROT, DITTY, ALIAH SHEFFIELD, ASMÂA HAMZAOUI & BNAT TIMBOUKTOU AND FATOUMATA DIAWARA
The WOW Foundation has announced its line-up for WOW Sounds, a series of specially filmed musical performances curated for WOW Festival UK 2021 which will stream online from 1st-21st March as part of the WOW – Women of the World Festival’s programme of In Conversations. The programme will shine a light on women, girls and non-binary artists from around the world that use their music as a form of activism, provoking intersectional conversations around gender inequality and more. The previously announced WOW Live at the Royal Albert Hall, which was due to take place on 8th March, has been postponed due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. In response to this, WOW Sounds will bring the fun to your homes by taking over the iconic venue to record performances, using its traditional auditorium, as well as hidden hallways and secret stairwells. Other acts will be showcased from the Akshara Theatre, a concert hall in New Delhi, and artists’ living rooms all across the globe.
The line-up will include UK based artists such as sitarist shredder, composer, producer and six-time Grammy nominee Anoushka Shankar; singer-songwriter and cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson whose recent release Rise Up, featuring Akala, has become a revolutionary anthem for young Black people; genre defying artist Anaiis whose breakthrough song Nina is a liberation chant and reclamation of freedom; soul singer and all round force of nature Miss Baby Sol who will be performing a heartbreaking track called She Cries; and rising star Nubya Garcia who is changing the landscape of the UK Jazz scene, a genre historically dominated by men. International acts from across the globe will include the non-binary filipinx multi-disciplinary Kimmortal from the unceded unsurrendered traditional territories of the Coastal Salish; Voice of Baceprot a teenage Indonesian metal band rebelling against stereotypes of Islamic girls whilst fighting for equal rights to education; Indian independent artist and urban ecologist Ditty whose music uses field recordings of water women warriors who are fighting for water sanitation in their local communities; American Tik Tok star and singer Aliah Sheffield who wrote Earth is Ghetto, the worldwide anthem for lockdown; international superstar Fatoumata Diawara, a Malian singer, guitarist and social activist campaigning against the trafficking and sale of black migrants in Libyan slave markets; and foremost female ambassador of Gnawa music Asmaa Hamzoui and her band Bnat Timbouktou who will perform their contagious brand of evangelistic desert blues.
Miss Baby Sol, Anaiis, Anoushka Sankar, Nubya Garcia and Ayanna Witter-Johnson’s performances will be recorded at London’s Royal Albert Hall and will feature short interviews about their work with radio presenter and journalist Gemma Cairney.
Included as part of every In Conversation event in the online festival, WOW Sounds will get you head-banging, toe-tapping and dancing with joy in celebration of the resilience of women, girls and non-binary people everywhere.
WOW Sounds will also give audiences a chance to revisit some of their favourite performances from artists that performed at last year’s Global 24 Festival. These include Tunisian singer-songwriter Emel Mathlouthi, whose protest song “Kelmti Horra” became the anthem during the 2011 Tunisian Revolution and Arab Spring; the Zimbabwean ‘Princess of Mbira’ Hope Masike; Kenyan musical and cultural firebrand Muthoni Drummer Queen and platinum-selling front woman and bassist from Noisettes Shingai.
For the first time ever, The WOW Foundation’s flagship UK festival will present events online daily from 1st-21st March. Recognising recent global events, 2021’s WOW UK programme will take a frank look at new obstacles women, girls and non-binary people now face; discussing creative solutions for change whilst celebrating amazing stories of resistance and progress. As in all WOW Festivals, it will be packed with challenging conversations but also moments of joy, spontaneity, laughter and optimism. This year’s opening session will bring together voices from across the globe to highlight the need for us to work together to build a more inclusive and sustainable post pandemic world.
Each WOW Sounds performance will be paired with one of the In Conversation events. WOW UK 2021 will include a series of In Conversations exploring themes such as sex during lockdown, radical childcare and gender equality in the tech industries. There will also be an interactive digital workshop programme including a session on decolonising songwriting with songwriters Emily Wurramara and Aine Tyrell and a mass singalong with WOW Virtual Big Sing, alongside discussion groups for those wanting to participate in conversations around specific subjects such as radical childcare and intersectionality. All events will be BSL interpreted and captioned, with tickets starting from £1 or audiences can buy a pass to watch the whole season from £25. For more information and the full WOW Festival 2021 programme, visit thewowfoundation.com or book on https://wow.ticketco.events/uk/en
The WOW Foundation is proudly supported by its Global Founding Partner Bloomberg, and Global Partner Mastercard.
WOW festivals are presented by arrangement with the Southbank Centre.
LISTINGS
WOW Festival 2021
1 – 21 March
In Conversation pay what you can tickets: £5 standard, £1 concession, £10 (includes a £5 donation to The WOW Foundation), £20 (includes a, £15 donation), £50 (includes £45 donation)
Pass to watch all In Conversations: £25 standard; £100 including donation to The WOW Foundation. In Conversations will be streamed via Ticketco and available to watch for seven days.
Ticket prices for workshops and discussions (which take place on Zoom) vary, starting from £3
1 March 8pm WOW UK 2021 Launch – With performances by Miss Baby Sol and Voice of Baceprot
2 March 8pm Arundhati Roy and V In Conversation – With a performance by Ditty
4 March 8pm Workshop: Money Matters – Reset Your Money Mindset with Selina Flavius
5 March 8pm Good Grief: Catherine Mayer and Anne Mayer Bird In Conversation – With a performance by Anaiis
6 March 10am Workshop: Under 10’s Feminist Corner
6 March 2pm Workshop: WOW’s Big Virtual Sing
6 March 8pm Where Are All The Working Class Writers? – With a performance by Asmâa Hamzaoui & Bnat Timbouktou
7 March 2pm Workshop: Grandmothers
7 March 4pm: Workshop: Radical Childcare
8 March: International Women’s Day – With performances by Anoushka Shankar and Fatoumata Diawara
9 March: Special event to be announced – With a performance by Nubya Garcia
10 March 8pm Women in Greek Myths: Natalie Haynes and Bettany Hughes In Conversation – With a performance by Anaiis
11 March 8pm Sheila Heti and Avni Doshi In Conversation – With a performance by Shingai
2 March 8pm Kimberlé Crenshaw In Conversation – With a performance by Ayanna Witter-Johnson
13 March 10am Workshop: Decolonising Songwriting
13 March 4pm Workshop: Afrofunk Rio
14 March 2pm Workshop: I Am Perfect As Me
15 March 8pm How to Talk to Robots: A Girls’ Guide To a Future Dominated by AI – With a performance by Muthoni Drummer Queen
16 March 7pm Workshop: Finding Your Personal Power with Sarah Blumenau
17 March 8pm Ruby Wax: And Now for the Good News – With a performance by Kimmortal
18 March 8pm Refusing to be Silenced – With a performance by Emel Mathlouthi
19 March 8pm Sex in Lockdown – With a performance by Hope Masike
20 March 10am Workshop: How To Be An Active Bystander
20 March 2pm Workshop: Female Friendships
21 March 2pm Workshop: Everyone’s An Artist with Bryony Kimmings
21 March 4pm Workshop All Cisterns Go – Plumbing with WOW