The public will be able to listen to storytelling, tales, romances, songs and trovos by artists from Morocco, Portugal and Andalusia on 28 May at La Alcazaba in Almería from 12.00h onwards.
The Fundación Tres Culturas del Mediterráneo and the Junta de Andalucía are holding the first edition of the Festival de Oralidad del Mediterráneo 'Fronteras Perdidas' (Lost Borders) on Saturday 28 May at the Alcazaba Monumental complex in Almería, bringing together voices from Morocco, Portugal and Andalusia, where the public will be able to listen to narration, stories, romances, songs and trovos (free entry).
The director of the Fundación Tres Culturas del Mediterráneo, José Manuel Cervera, explained during the press conference that Almería was the first place chosen for the 'Fronteras perdidas' Festival to begin for several reasons, including "its strong Andalusian roots in the past; its unique oral tradition (the trovo), its relationship with Morocco today, the large Moroccan population established in the city and the province", as well as "for being a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean and a city with a large number of references related to the world of culture and orality". In this sense, he referred to the Alcazaba itself, "from where the festival's slogan becomes real, since from there, the Mediterranean Sea gives us a vision of borders being diluted and lost".
For his part, the regional delegate of Culture, Tourism and Sport of the Junta de Andalucía, Alfredo Valdivia, pointed out that "the programme of this first edition of the Festival Fronteras perdidas, aims to build bridges through a common heritage such as the word and also to focus on the particular and unique thing that Almería offers in terms of orality, the trovo, which is why this could not be missing from the festival".
The Festival programme begins with a session dedicated especially to family audiences in the morning with "The stories of Calila and Dimna", a reference of oral literature that has survived to the present day.
This is a medieval story with live music of the period, performed by "Piratas de Alejandría", a group whose proposals have been widely developed in Almeria, having visited the network of libraries in the capital, carried out a reading mediation campaign in the province, and in the Alcazaba itself, they have promoted a programme of visits through the spoken word. On this occasion they have the participation of the multifaceted musician Juan Manuel Rubio.
The main part of the festival will take place in the afternoon, from 7.30 p.m. onwards, with the voices, songs, stories and verses coming from a diverse geography. First of all, with Imán Kandoussi and Roxana Martínez, the public will be able to enjoy the Arabic language and its lullabies through the story "Mi miel, mi dulzura" (My honey, my sweetness).
From the other side of the map will come the voice of the most international and representative Portuguese storyteller: Luis Carmelo Correia, who will offer his show "Contatinas", stories narrated with the voice of his concertina (Portuguese accordion).
And to close this day of orality without borders, the trovo from Almeria. The audience will be able to enjoy the good work of the trovo association of the Alpujarra and Contraviesa with all the elements of an authentic trovo session. The trovo will come from the voices of José Sánchez Fernández, known in the troubadour world as "el panadero", who will perform with Juan A. Morón. They will be accompanied by Vicente Fernández Moreno on violin and Gabriel Maldonado López on guitar.
Finally, Dolores Sánchez Vargas and Charo Martín Barrón will delight us with the mudanza and the sticks. A unique opportunity to enjoy a preserved oral tradition.
The 'Lost Borders' Orality Festival is part of a series of awareness-raising activities that accompany the "Alqantara: Bridges for Dialogue and Coexistence" programme, sponsored by the Ministry of Moroccans Living Abroad and Migration Affairs.