One of the main foundations of Imaterial is the celebration of those who, when listening to traditional songs, hear much more than the past. But, from now on, whenever we direct the spotlight to those who make tradition a contemporary practice, we will not fail to remember who brought us here. The Imaterial Award aims to greet and acknowledge a personality or an artist whose path, inscribed in this logic of biding past and present, has been decisive in encouraging a dialogue between different cultures, encouraging the abidance of human rights, and upholding equality and peace among peoples.
In its first edition, the Imaterial Award - a sculpture authored by Pedro Fazenda – will distinguish the unparalleled Basque musician Kepa Junkera. This page would always be insufficient to praise such a work that despite based on the trikitixa (Basque concertina), picking up on local rhythms and melodies, truly encompasses music from all over the world. Just mentioning that we can hear Kepa on albums by Hedningarna, Chieftains, Caetano Veloso, Bulgarian Voices, Béla Fleck or Pat Metheny, should vouch for the countless “musical conversations” that he has long been maintaining. In 2018, during an artistic residency in Évora, he created, performed live and recorded with local musicians the album Ath-thurdã. Another way of using music to sweep the word “borders” away from the dictionary.


Image: ©Pedro Fazenda