WOMADelaide, celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2017 from 10-13 March, today announced the second
round of a further 27 groups in the lineup for next year’s festival, including headline shows from the
Balkans’ gypsy-rock supergroup Emir Kusturica & the No Smoking Orchestra and Austrian electro-swing
pioneers Parov Stelar.
Leading the charge is the feisty 11-piece Serbian band headed by controversial filmmaker Emir Kusturica,
who has twice won the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival. Emir Kusturica & the No Smoking Orchestra are
a genre-defying and irreverent band whose frantic ‘unza, unza’ versions of rumba, rock and gypsy music are
incredibly entertaining and slightly mad.
Austria’s electro-swing stars Parov Stelar, fronted by singer Cleo Panther, will make their Australian debut
exclusive to WOMADelaide. Their insanely catchy music that has been used in advertising campaigns
across the world with joyous horns and sophisticated style, has the sass and panache of 1920s cabaret, with
modern-day dance floor appeal.
In total contrast comes one of the greatest African stars of her generation, the majestic and gifted Oumou
Sangare. Endearingly referred to as the ‘Songbird from Wassoulou’, Sangare’s music is funky and vibrant
but her lyrics always challenge convention; from bold expressions of sensuality to passionately advocating
for women’s rights.
A glance across the other artists announced today sees the WOMADelaide debut of Baba ZuLa’s
psychedelic Turkish rock n roll; Nattali Rize, the new Jamaican reggae project for Natali Pa’ap’a ex Blue King
Brown; the sassy brass of New Orleans street band in the Hot 8 Brass Band and the stunning vocals of
Sahrawi singer-activist Aziza Brahim.
Australian artists will include:- the dreamy new Angus Stone side project, Dope Lemon; the loops and
soundscapes of D D Dumbo and the socially-conscious hip-hop of L-FRESH The Lion and “Attractor” from
Queensland’s Dancenorth and leading choreographers Gideon Obarzanek and Lucy Guerin.
Together with Indonesia’s Javanese trance musicians Senyawa, Attractor will take audiences on a trancenoise
odyssey transcending the borders of dance, music and ritual. Commissioned through the Australian
Government’s Major Festivals Initiative with Arts Centre Melbourne’s Asia TOPA, Brisbane Festival and
WOMADelaide, this immersive work will presented on a special ‘surround’ stage where the demarcation
between dancer and audience dissolves as the performance transitions into a large-scale dance event.
The festival site will also host the extraordinary installation Giidanyba by Indigenous artist Tyrone
Sheather, an extraordinary sound and visual installation using ancient stories and new technology, where
sound and light are made responsive to the movement of the audience moving through seven floating ‘sky
beings’ representing his spiritual ancestors and Gumbaynggirr Dreaming culture.
“Since 1992 WOMADelaie has always been an extraordinary meeting point of cultures, performances and
artistic creativity from around the world and the artists announced today truly showcase this diversity of
cultural experience for the widest possible audience” said WOMADelaide director Ian Scobie.
“To be able to have Dancenorth’s Attractor presented alongside Turkish rock and roll, one of Mali’s most
stunning vocalists & cultural ambassadors, and Austrian electro-swing truly epitomizes the cultural diversity
of WOMADelaide.”
THE FULL LIST OF ARTISTS ANNOUNCED TODAY IS –
• Aziza Brahim (Western Sahara/Spain)
• Baba ZuLa (Turkey)
• Dance North & Lucy Guerin Inc “Attractor” – dance (Australia/Indonesia)
• D D Dumbo (Australia)
• Dope Lemon (Australia)
• Electric Fields (Australia)
• EkosDance Company “Cry Jailolo” – dance (Indonesia)
• Emir Kusturica & the No Smoking Orchestra (Serbia)
• A Guy Called Gerald (UK)
• The Hot 8 Brass Band (USA)
• L-FRESH the Lion (Australia)
• Lamine Sonko & the African Intelligence (Senegal/Australia)
• Nattali Rize (Jamaica/Australia)
• Nhatty Man & Gara (Ethiopia/Australia)
• Oki Dub Ainu Band (Japan)
• Oumou Sangare (Mali)
• Parov Stelar (Austria)
• Rich Medina – DJ (USA)
• Skratch Bastid – DJ (Canada)
• Senyawa (Indonesia)
• TAGO (South Korea)
• Tangents (Australia)
• William Crighton (Australia)
• 30/70 (Australia)
JOINING THE ALREADY ANNOUNCED –
• 9Bach (Wales) – WOMADelaide exclusive
• Ana Tijoux (Chile) – Australian premiere, WOMADelaide exclusive
• Archie Roach (Australia)
• Bebel Gilberto (Brazil) – WOMADelaide debut
• Brushy one string (Jamaica) – Australian premiere, WOMADelaide exclusive
• Cie Carabosse (France) – WOMADelaide exclusive
• The East Pointers (Canada) – WOMADelaide debut
• Gawurra (Australia) – Adelaide debut
• Hanoi Masters (Vietnam) – Australian premiere, WOMADelaide exclusive
• Inna Modja (Mali) – Australian premiere, WOMADelaide exclusive
• La Mambanegra (Colombia) – Australian premiere, WOMADelaide debut
• The Manganiyar Classroom (India) – Australian premiere, WOMADelaide debut
• Mercedes Peón (Spain) – Australian premiere, WOMADelaide exclusive
• Philip Glass Ensemble KOYAANISQATSI Live – Life out of Balance (USA) – WOMADelaide debut
• Sinkane (Sudan/USA) – Australian premiere, WOMADelaide exclusive
• The Soil (South Africa) – Australian premiere, WOMADelaide exclusive
• The Specials (UK) – WOMADelaide debut
• Sudha Ragunathan (India)
• The Waifs (Australia)
• Warsaw Village Band (Poland) – WOMADelaide debut
• Xylouris White (Greece/Australia) – WOMADelaide debut
The full WOMADelaide 2017 program will be released over the coming months. WOMADelaide, 10-13 March 2017, Botanic Park, Adelaide, South Australia.
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