Stichting Mali Blues International

The foundation aims to promote cultural exchange, cooperation, and knowledge transfer between Malian and Dutch musicians, as well as to support artists in their professional development and international mobility.

The foundation seeks to achieve this goal by initiating, facilitating, and organizing cultural, educational, and artistic activities. In addition to an annual cultural event to be organized in the Netherlands (potentially with expansion to other countries in Europe), the foundation also intends to support several local projects in Mali and/or the Netherlands annually. Creating a sustainable and transparent structure for cooperation forms an essential starting point in this regard.

Elaboration of the objectives:

- Cultural exchange, cooperation, and knowledge transfer between Malian and Dutch
musicians
Description
The foundation aims to promote cultural exchange, cooperation, and knowledge transfer between Malian
and Dutch musicians by ensuring fair, transparent, and sustainable
cooperation with the artists with whom it works during its activities.

Justification
Cultural exchanges have been taking place between Dutch and Malian musicians for many years.
There is often financial support from various funds. Musically, the
exchanges are often very interesting and successful. However, unfortunately, inequality, unclear agreements, and a lack of transparency also regularly occur. The business culture difference between the
Dutch and Malian music industries often leads to mistrust and hinders sustainable and
long-term cooperation. The foundation considers it essential that artists can collaborate on the basis of equality,
clear agreements, and mutual respect.

Activities
The foundation will organize one event annually and 1 to 2 projects in Mali or the Netherlands. In addition, the foundation will ensure:

• guaranteeing fair remuneration and transparent financial handling and the application of payment terms.

• providing insight into the accounting to project participants and communicating transparently about this. It must be clear which costs and revenues events and projects must be taken into account.

• guiding artists with professional and business matters.

• fostering long-term collaborative relationships with artists.

- Facilitating a structural cultural corridor between Mali and the Netherlands (Europe)

Description
The foundation aims to realize a sustainable and structural connection (cultural corridor) between Mali and the Netherlands/Europe, in support of cultural cooperation and the mobility of the artists who will be involved in the foundation's activities.

Rationale
International cultural cooperation is largely determined by practical and institutional preconditions, such as visa applications, invitations, and access to networks.
Without a reliable and professional organization supporting these processes, many initiatives remain limited or impossible.

Activities
The foundation will realize the structural cultural corridor between the Netherlands and Mali by, for its events and projects:

• supporting and facilitating participating artists with their visa applications and providing official invitations

• maintaining contacts with embassies, the Ministry of Culture in Mali, cultural institutions, funds, festivals, and venues in the Netherlands and Mali

• organizing concerts, tours, and educational projects with a focus on cultural exchange

• building and managing an international network of cultural partners

– Promoting intercultural understanding and social connection

Description
The foundation aims to promote mutual understanding and respect between cultures, with
special attention to the rich multicultural traditions of Mali and their significance in daily life.
Additionally, the foundation seeks to raise awareness among the Dutch public regarding the musical roots
of the blues that lie in the traditional music cultures of Mali. Through the transatlantic slave trade,
the influence of this can be found in contemporary Western music genres such as pop and rock.

Justification
While Mali possesses centuries-old, organically grown diversity, cultural diversity in
the Netherlands is largely the result of recent historical processes such as migration and
globalization. In Mali, various peoples, languages, and traditions have become
intertwined over the centuries into a relatively stable social fabric, in which diversity is deeply rooted in
society. Due to geopolitical developments in recent years, social cohesion is increasingly
under pressure. The Netherlands, on the other hand, has developed into a multicultural society over the past decades
influenced by labor migration, colonial history, and international mobility. Globalization has
further accelerated this development: people, ideas, and cultural expressions move across
borders at an ever-increasing speed, making cultural diversity more visible and dynamic, but also more complex.

This difference in origins has consequences for the way diversity is experienced and
organized. In Mali, diversity is often embedded in traditional structures and shared cultural frameworks,
whereas the Netherlands is still fully engaged in shaping new ways of living together in
diversity. In doing so, globalization increases both the opportunities for exchange and enrichment and the
challenges surrounding identity, cohesion, and mutual understanding.
Precisely for this reason, in both contexts—albeit from different starting points—promoting knowledge,
dialogue, and intercultural understanding is essential. Mali can serve as a source of inspiration for sustainable coexistence in
diversity, while the Netherlands demonstrates how globalization brings with it new forms of cultural interaction and
societal dynamics.

Activities
The foundation aims to promote intercultural understanding and societal connection by, among other things:

• organizing cultural events with a focus on similarities and cooperation.

• developing educational programs, lesson packages, and workshops for (music) education and
cultural centers.

• producing and distributing cultural and artistic content. • stimulating collaborative projects between artists from different cultures in both Mali and the Netherlands.

– Rejuvenation and transmission of cultural knowledge

Description
The foundation aims to involve younger generations in and introduce them to the cultural richness of Mali and the underlying context of musical styles such as Mali blues in both the Netherlands and Mali.

Rationale
Knowledge about Mali and its cultural traditions is often limited and fragmented among younger generations in Mali. Whereas in the past there was primarily oral transmission between elders and young people within their own cultures, there now appear to be many more external influences. Due to increasing globalization, social media, and market forces, much musical heritage threatens to fade into the background.
At the same time, there is indeed interest in that music. Without the active transmission of knowledge and context, this cultural richness risks being insufficiently understood and appreciated. The foundation therefore considers it important to make this knowledge accessible and to actively involve new generations. Activities
The foundation will achieve this goal by, among other things:

• organizing 1 to 2 small-scale educational projects or talent development initiatives per year,
aimed at young people aged 15 - 35 in Mali.

• guiding young artists from the start towards independence and on the path to becoming professional and
financially independent artists.

• facilitating exchanges between these young target groups and artists in Mali and the Netherlands.

• developing audience-oriented programs and presentations in the Netherlands to
generate funds.

• utilizing digital media and platforms for knowledge sharing.

EVALUATION / ANNUAL REPORTS

The foundation will report annually on its activities, aimed at the continuity of the foundation and
its activities. For each event / project, a thorough evaluation will take place with the participants,
as well as with the partners with whom collaboration has taken place. This evaluation covers the idea and the
final content, the planning and organization, the execution, and the results.
Events and projects do not stand alone but are essential to doing justice to the objectives
of the foundation.

Final provision
The foundation has no profit motive and aims exclusively to serve the public interest. Any
proceeds will be used exclusively to realize the objectives of the
foundation. The foundation starts with start-up capital to be able to
carry out the activities for the initial period.