{"id":3437,"date":"2025-11-24T08:27:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T08:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/?p=3437"},"modified":"2025-11-24T13:32:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T13:32:26","slug":"interview-with-brahim-el-mazned-the-mastermind-behind-the-visa-for-music-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/interview-with-brahim-el-mazned-the-mastermind-behind-the-visa-for-music-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Brahim El Mazned \u2013 the mastermind behind the Visa For Music festival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5284\" data-end=\"5724\">In the cultural corridors of Rabat, where music animates the city\u2019s heartbeat, I sat down with Brahim El Mazned \u2014 founder and artistic director of the Visa For Music festival \u2014 for a conversation filled with passion and vision. This was not just a meeting, but a meaningful artistic and human moment, reflecting not only the organizational success of the festival but also a strong belief in music and creativity as bridges between peoples.<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"dD3SHvSw6L4\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\ud83c\udfac Honored to Meet Ibrahim El Mazid \u2013 President of Visa For Music\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dD3SHvSw6L4?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5726\" data-end=\"5754\">Who is Brahim El Mazned?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5756\" data-end=\"6007\">Brahim El Mazned is a key figure in Morocco\u2019s cultural landscape. Through Anya Culture, the organization he leads, he launched Visa For Music in Rabat in 2014. Since then, the event has become a strategic platform for African and Middle Eastern music.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6009\" data-end=\"6118\">Anya is also active in music publishing, training, and the development of cultural infrastructure in Morocco.<\/p>\n<div class=\"x9f619 x1n2onr6 x1ja2u2z x78zum5 xdt5ytf x2lah0s x193iq5w xf7dkkf xv54qhq x1k70j0n xzueoph xzboxd6 x14l7nz5\">\n<div class=\"x6s0dn4 xal61yo x1obq294 x5a5i1n xde0f50 x15x8krk x78zum5 xdt5ytf x6ikm8r x10wlt62 x1n2onr6 xh8yej3\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"xl1xv1r\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?height=314&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F4522764914713211%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=560&amp;t=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x9f619 x1n2onr6 x1ja2u2z x78zum5 xdt5ytf x2lah0s x193iq5w xuk3077 xf7dkkf xv54qhq x1k70j0n xzueoph xzboxd6 x14l7nz5\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6120\" data-end=\"6322\">El Mazned is more than a festival organizer; he embodies a cultural and ethical vision. He is known internationally as a cultural consultant committed to building a sustainable music industry in Africa.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6324\" data-end=\"6360\">The vision behind Visa For Music<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6362\" data-end=\"6671\">As he explained during our conversation, El Mazned believes deeply in music as a tool for bringing continents closer together. Visa For Music, held annually in Rabat, is not merely a festival: it is a professional marketplace connecting artists, producers, and cultural actors from Africa and the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6673\" data-end=\"6988\">For him, hosting the event in Morocco carries symbolic weight. Rabat, with its heritage and diversity, naturally lends itself to such creative initiatives. At the opening of a recent edition, he emphasized that the festival is \u201ca space for exchange, for meaningful encounters, and for building the future of music.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6990\" data-end=\"7031\">The festival\u2019s importance for Morocco<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"7033\" data-end=\"7314\">In El Mazned\u2019s view, Morocco is not just a host country: it is an active partner in building a continental music industry. Through Visa For Music, the Kingdom strengthens artistic exchanges and supports youth and professionals through workshops, conferences, and training programs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"7316\" data-end=\"7537\">The festival also highlights Rabat\u2019s role as a cultural capital and reinforces its contribution to the economic development of the creative sector, especially with the state\u2019s support for cultural and creative industries.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"7539\" data-end=\"7578\">El Mazned\u2019s vision \u2014 from the heart<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"7580\" data-end=\"7806\">El Mazned spoke proudly of how Visa For Music has become \u201ca real platform at the crossroads of art and economic initiative.\u201d For him, it goes far beyond entertainment \u2014 it is \u201ca space for building a collective musical memory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"7808\" data-end=\"7952\">\u201cWe don\u2019t just celebrate music; we build bridges between artists and continents, between dreams and possibility, between the past and ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"7954\" data-end=\"8058\">This quote reflects his philosophy and his belief in art as a tool for transformation and communication.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"8060\" data-end=\"8101\">He also describes his mission as follows:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"8103\" data-end=\"8315\">\u201cCreating this festival in Morocco stems from my belief that this country can become a true launch pad for a modern African music industry \u2014 globally competitive, yet deeply rooted in its identities and origins.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"8317\" data-end=\"8344\">Challenges and ambition<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"8346\" data-end=\"8727\">El Mazned did not overlook the challenges: funding major festivals, building professional networks, and turning talent into sustainable projects \u2014 all issues he has grappled with since the beginning. But in his view, the work has only just begun. True success lies in transforming cultural exchange into a real music economy, generating tangible impact for artists and communities.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"8729\" data-end=\"8923\">He also highlighted the importance of expanding music training programs \u2014 notably through the VFM Academy \u2014 to empower younger generations and ensure the continuity of such cultural initiatives.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"8925\" data-end=\"8968\">Conclusion \u2014 A profound artistic impact<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"8970\" data-end=\"9192\">My meeting with Brahim El Mazned was more than an interview; it was a meditation on a long-term vision. How can a festival become more than a festival? How can today\u2019s Morocco become a global and African artistic platform?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"9194\" data-end=\"9349\">Through his work, we see how an artistic dream can evolve into a cultural and economic project, and how music continues to build bridges across continents.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"9351\" data-end=\"9536\">It is undoubtedly an honor for anyone who believes that art is a universal language \u2014 and that Morocco, through figures like El Mazned, can write new chapters in the global music story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the cultural corridors of Rabat, where music animates the city\u2019s heartbeat, I sat down with Brahim El Mazned \u2014 founder and artistic director of the Visa For Music festival \u2014 for a conversation filled with passion and vision. This was not just a meeting, but a meaningful artistic and human moment, reflecting not only [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cultural-diplomacy","category-visa-for-music-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3437"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3439,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437\/revisions\/3439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}