Courtesy Photo
For many people that have attended the Doadoa performing arts market, the idea is as confusing that even at seven years, you will find people calling it a festival, showcase or a concert
And it could be the reason why even when the curtains went up for this edition, the number of patrons enjoying showcases by South African songstress Berita or the sound beat of Uganda’s House of Talent remained low even when the market has been entirely free.
The market, that kicked off on May 9, outworked themselves with the lineup for artistes they chose to showcase the amazing talent of Berita, who was performing in Kampala for the third time after an amazing show piece at Bayimba International Festival last year, an enterprising Shifa Musisi, Afrigo Band and Jackie Akello among others.
It was a brilliant line up but since Doadoa is yet to be fully defined by the organisers to the artistes programmed, it was mostly handled the same way they handle all their regular performance rather than a market.
In a performance market setting, especially this particular one that was free, artistes with their management have to attract people they would want to book them. In this way, the burden to have a quality audience see you perform partly lies on the backs of the organisers but mostly the artistes.
Sadly, the concept could be something that many artistes that turn up have not grasped thus those that showcase tend to be watched by bookers only pre-invited by Bayimba Foundation, the organisers than the desired audience they would want to impress.
But never the less, the entertainment had to go on. Opening the shows was Berita, a performer from the last edition of Bayimba. Her performance in Kampala was part of her big strategy to get her music to different parts of East Africa – armed with an acoustic guitar, an improvised drum set, the Thandolwethu singer was ready to impress and of course register her name with the Ugandan market.
During an interview, the soft spoken artiste noted that she has enjoyed her two appearances in Kampala and already has plans of collaborating with a number of artistes.
“I’ve already talked to Jamal Wasswa, I’ve listened to his music and I like it,” she noted.
Being a market where artistes come to be booked, Shamsi Music, a band made up of Kenyan friends maybe the luckiest of the lot that showcased as they got booked to perform at this year’s Bayimba International Festival even before they were done with their performance.
Other performers included the amazing Shifa Musisi, Gloria Achillah, Izaaya the Composer and Afrosimba from Kenya among others.
Like the past editions, the biggest attractions were talks that addressed issues surrounding artist management, state of dance and of course others about documenting folk music from Malawi and Zimbabwe.
