Selam Ethiopia
Selam Ethiopia is a non–profit, independent organisation based in Stockholm and created by an Ethiopian born Swedish citizen to promote world music and cultural diversity at international levels since 1997. In 2005 a branch office; Selam Ethiopia (NGO Chsa #1204) was opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; aiming to work towards promoting music and cultural diversity. Mostly financed by Swedish government funds, the activities of Selam Ethiopia are an illustration of co-development institutional action supported by a developed country.
Selam Ethiopia is engaged in the following key thematic areas: Cultural Diversity and Exchange, Capacity building and Training, Networking and Information Brokerage, and Research. A key pillar in Selam Ethiopia’s operations Selam conducts frequent surveys and research to gauge the performance of Ethiopia’s entertainment and cultural sector to help identify challenges, growth areas and areas where interventions could be made along with stakeholders.
Selam Ethiopia's most known action is its festival, but it is engaged in more than eleven projects in a bid to contribute to the development of culture and entertainment sector in Ethiopia.
Selam Festival Addis: The Selam Festival Addis is an event aiming to provide a quality platform to showcase Ethiopian music and culture. The festival also serves as an important tool to enhance the infrastructure within the music sector and empower its stakeholders. The full-fledged outdoor music concert with international standard event management and execution quality, includes a capacity building and knowledge transfer activities for large crews, volunteers and partners.
In 2016, the 5th edition of the festival’s one week programme included:
- An opening night at the Swedish residence, with on average 500 audience members from foreign embassies and senior officials with refreshment, introductory speeches and 2 international and one local performances preview.
- 2 days of concerts at the Ghion hotel, in front of 7 000 audience members with small fees; followed by free after show jam sessions each evening.
- Three free professional trainings in sound engineering, lighting and event management, 20 participants per workshop, and experience sharing sessions, master classes and conferences.
The Cultural Forum: is periodically organised, on a quarterly basis, to discuss creative related issues including cultural politics, copyright and the culture industry. Some of the issues raised on the forms so far include:
- Women in the Arts
- Financial institutions and the arts...
Music Leads the Way aims to create opportunities for talented and marginalised youths by providing training in copyright and contractual management, ICT and Social media, studio technics, singing and production and starting pilot music education for elementary school students. The project is being implemented by Selam Ethiopia in collaboration with the Ethiopian Musicians’ Association
Sound Engineering Program:
Strengthening and improving the infrastructure within the cultural sector in Ethiopia so that artistic expressions acquire greater prominence and contribute to social and economic progress.
Developed capacities among artists, organisers and associations in Ethiopia.
Established networks and facilitate exchange between professional cultural actors on local, national, regional and international level.
Diversity in the performing arts promoting a modern image of Ethiopia.
Awareness among artists, the government and stakeholders on issues and gaps in the culture sector for further engagement and development.
The majority of the funds are granted by SIDA. There are also some budgets allocated from Forum Syd and Swedish Post Code Lotterate. For the implementation of Selam Festival Addis, though, there is a need to raise corporate sponsorship. Each year, corporate sponsors are different. For example in 2016, St. Georges beer (BGI) was the corporate sponsor.
-Most of the evaluators and participants have positive feedback.
-The media review, local and international, regarding Selam Ethiopia’s projects, including Selam Festival Addis, is positive and supportive.
-The general audience gave encouraging feedback anhows support by 'liking' and commenting on our activities. (please refer the social media of Selam Ethiopia and Selam Festival Addis).