TaFMA highlights Nagaland’s music and arts industry at world music expo in Spain

Dimapur: Theja Meru, the chairman of the Task Force for Music and Arts (TaFMA) Nagaland, shared the strengths of Nagaland’s music and arts industry at WOMEX, the worldwide music expo, at A Coruna in Spain.

The six-day music expo will conclude on October 29.

Meru was invited as a speaker delegate to WOMEX and addressed the Asian networking session of the global event on Saturday.

Highlighting the unique aspects of Nagaland, he spoke on the special features of the Hornbill Festival.

He said the festival, held every year from December 1 to December 10, showcases the rich indigenous culture of the Naga people while celebrating music of all genres at the stand-alone music festival that is one of the biggest across the region.

Meru also met Alex Walter, the director of WOMEX, wherein he called for dialogue for collective actions, possible partnerships and collaborative actions towards promoting the music industry.

WOMEX is the most international and culturally diverse music meeting in the world and the biggest conference of the global music scene that features a trade fair along with talks and showcases concerts.

Over 3,000 professionals, including 260 performing artists, come together every October from 90 countries, making WOMEX the leading networking platform for the world music industry.

The WOMEX hosts seven stages, around 700 exhibiting companies, 100 speakers, films an opening concert and an award ceremony across five packed networking days.

Meru said the objective of attending the WOMEX was to foster discussion and strengthen connections and position Nagaland as the upholder of art and culture in the world music and arts map.

He said participation in this event would make the stakeholders better understand the global trends in music and the possibilities to secure supportive conditions for artists and cultural ambassadors.

He also met several policymakers, and stakeholders from the international music industry and discussed issues like improving and enforcing regulatory frameworks, expansion of international connectivity, rapid responses and long-term strategies to effectively support artists and cultural ambassadors of Nagaland.

Meru thanked WOMEX for the invitation and said it is a recognition of the music industry of Nagaland and the efforts being made by the Nagaland government through TaFMA.

He exuded confidence that this experience would benefit the Nagaland music and arts industry in multiple verticals as there are several takeaways.