Founded in 1991, the Voix De Femmes Festival<\/a> has taken on multiple guises: essentially focused on traditional music and theatre, this event has, over time, been transformed into a global cultural rendezvous, bringing together some ten disciplines. \u2018When we took on the project, we really wanted to build bridges between artistic practices and the issues society is concerned with, in particular questions of gender, issues of inclusivity and accessibility. Now, it operates on many different levels: the performing arts are still represented, but depending on what we are working on, it might include sound creations, the visual arts, cinema, dance, or maybe stand-up,\u2019 explains Flo Vandenberghe, the co-director of Voix De Femmes. Aiming to promote practices and knowledge borne by female artists, but also people from gender minority backgrounds, Voix De Femmes makes it a point of honour to decentralize culture. That\u2019s why, this year, the festival is for the most part taking place in Li\u00e8ge. \u2018In Brussels, there are many projects which are working in these areas, and they do it amazingly well, whereas in Li\u00e8ge we are the only ones who are tackling this interface between gender questions and artistic practices,\u2019 Flo points out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Esprit de Suite\u2019, between heritage and transmission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Two years ago, the Voix De Femmes Festival celebrated its birthday with the \u2018Dis\/continue\u2019 edition, looking into the questions of heritage and transmission. To sustain the momentum generated \u2013 and because things are never really concluded \u2013 the team is returning with \u2018Esprit de Suite\u2019, an edition spanning 18 days during which preservation, transmission, stories and silences will once again be the focal points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, the festival will shine a light on stories which are too seldom heard: on the programme, around twenty or so readings, meetings, creations, shows and workshops which will give the people concerned the opportunity to speak. Whilst the festivities commence with great fanfare, centring on the Finnish artist Tove Jansson<\/a>, traditional music will be given pride of place a few days later, to the delight of all. On October 7 at KulturA, the public will have the chance to hold discussions with Radio Campus<\/a> and the La Crue<\/a> collective on the bridges between traditional music and contemporary perspectives, and subsequently enjoy a wonderful evening of singing and percussion led by La Crapaude and La M\u00f2ssa<\/a>. \u2018La Crapaude, is more steeped in Wallonia, whilst La M\u00f2ssa is full of repertoires from southern Italy, reinterpretations of Swedish songs, etc. For people who are very rooted in contemporary music, it\u2019s interesting to listen to what is happening elsewhere. This music genre exists, and it still has its significance,\u2019 explains Caroline Bertolini, communications officer for the Voix De Femmes. A participatory workshop on the writing and the rewriting of traditional songs will be held the next day<\/a>, at the CC Kali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Esprit de Suite\u2019 will also welcome the artist La\u00efla Amezian<\/a> for a big day of Chaabi music on October 14. \u2018La\u00efla offers women, be they Arabic speakers or not, the opportunity to reclaim this repertoire and to learn the songs,\u2019 adds Caroline. \u2018The Chabbi project is a repertoire which is very much alive and well in the Moroccan community. It is massively nurtured by women of the local diaspora who practice it in settings which are not public, but take in the whole of the community life,\u2019 emphasises Caroline. Recalling the rooted nature of traditional music, she adds: \u2018These are things which exist. La\u00efla\u2019s project is precisely to bring to light the whole of this work of transmission, artistic practice and expertise, which these women have here and which has been made completely invisible.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n An inclusive programme<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Voix De Femmes also encompasses exchanges, encounters and dialogues with varied audiences, less privileged, and often little included in the cultural sector. This year, the Festival team has in particular linked up with several organisations whose aim is to promote the inclusion of deaf and hard-of-hearing people: several events will be accessible in Francophone Belgium Sign Language, including a presentation of the work of the Finnish artist Tove Jansson, as well as the reading of a Moomins story for children aged 4 to 7, by the SIGRA collective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An inclusive programme, therefore, which does not just spring out of nowhere: \u2018there is all the same a pretty direct link between the profiles of the people who establish the programme and the profiles of those who attend the events. It is for this reason that we are constantly saying that we need women, gender minorities and racialised people in the decision-making bodies,\u2019 Flo tells us. An essential measure which was rapidly adopted by the Voix De Femmes: apart from its intergenerational character, the Festival team often reaches out to people from different backgrounds and communities. \u2018For the programming and the work areas, we work with a collective which generally includes some ten people or so who have been previously heavily involved in the project: former organisers, past employees, former trainees, etc. These people also have greatly varied profiles and very different cultural anchorage points,\u2019 adds Flo. This inclusiveness is also achieved by giving people who are not represented in the team carte blanche to develop their projects. \u2018That is what we did with Bledarte<\/a> and Who\u2019s That Girl<\/a>, the Atout Comedy Club<\/a> plus La\u00efla Amezian<\/a>\u2019, she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kingkong-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Tove-Jansson.jpg\")
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