Westway LAB Presents future models for European artistic co-creation for 2022 Edition
Taking place from 6th to 9th April 2022 in Guimarães, Westway LAB, Portugal’s first Showcase Festival & Pro Music Conference, returns to its physical format for the first time after two hybrid editions under pandemic restrictions.
The 9th edition looks towards its earlier defining moments as it approaches its first decade as a ground-breaking event, creating unique artistic creative experiences: Westway LAB is as much about creation, and the creative process, as it is about the music business and its commerce.
This is highlighted by three EU project presentations that are part of the Westway PRO conference this year: Europe in Synch 2.0, European Ghosts and MC&S Labs are all Music Moves Europe projects that present future models for European artistic co-creation, whereas Westway’s Creative Europe Cooperation Projects ETEP and INES are aimed at circulation.
This edition will also take a closer look at the ecology of co-creation and as a concrete action that is part of this philosophy that Westway LAB has adopted since its foundation in 2014, there will be 6 co-creation projects that unite artists from Portugal and the European continent. As always, the resulting showcases will be free concerts so that these unique moments, where new material is performed live for the very first time, are totally accessible.
The PRO Conference will also take a special look into key areas of the music sector and once again promises prominent speakers from the national and international music industry, whose professional experience and life experience enriches the panels and keynotes. WHY Portugal will also present a conference programme focused on the internationalization of Portuguese music, with showcases from new Portuguese artists ready to take their first steps in building careers abroad.
The Festival will feature over 20 concerts distributed by 3 stages of the Centro Cultural Vila Flor plus another 5 stages throughout the city, enabling for the circulation of the public around the urban centre, looking for new (musical) revelations. Names to be announced soon.
Rui Torrinha, artistic director of the festival says:
“Arriving at its 9th edition, we have been able to process and fine-tune many of the experiences undertaken along the way, so as to adjust the open, evolution-based model we adopted for the event. Westway LAB proposes a complex ecosystem built on simplicity: to live by the music, in a Cultural Heritage landmark city that was European Capital of Culture in 2012, immersed in a process of fruition of different cultures and realities that potentiate the human imagination from artistic creation to the circulation of knowledge.”
“This edition accentuates the power of creation as a strategic direction of the event, and places artists – of every generation – on the frontline. Names will be announced soon, and will reveal first rank names from historic Portuguese artists as well as the Next Generation that is now tasked with continuing to write the musical history of our times.”
Westway LAB is also a major platform enabling the Portuguese music industry to work in a networked way, partnering with organisations such as AMAEI, GDA, WHY Portugal, ESNS Exchange, Antena 3, Keychange and MERLIN, helping raise new horizons and find creative solutions in challenging, uncertain times. Over the years, Westway LAB Keynotes have included a top-notch list of stellar names from the three sectors of the international music industry: live music, recorded music and music publishing including; Peter Jenner, Keith Harris, Helen Smith, Charles Caldas, Fruzsina Szep, Daryl Bamonte, Roberta Medina, Rob Challice and others.
More info and tickets here: https://westwaylab.com/
Westway PRO will take place in a hybrid format, with the physical event located at the Palácio Vila Flor in Guimarães and online access via the digital platform that will announce the program mid-February: https://hopin.com/events/westway-lab
Notes to Editors:
About Westway LAB
Co-Founded in 2014 by A Oficina’s Rui Torrinha and AMAEI’s Nuno Saraiva, Westway LAB went beyond what a traditional showcase festival and conference generally does, and following Torrinha’s vision added a co-creation component of creative artist residencies bringing together Portuguese and international writers to write, compose and create together in an environment of absolute creative freedom – presenting brand new music, created in Guimarães each year premiered at the festival.
The same creative thinking flowed into the Westway LAB PRO conference, opening the doors to a free exchange of ideas between professionals and musical artists in several cafés and underground spots around Guimarães. This special boutique festival dynamic, in turn, led to Westway LAB being the genesis for several EU projects under Music Moves Europe (Europe in Synch, European Ghosts, and others). Westway LAB was also the first Portuguese festival to join ETEP (Now ESNS Exchange), which in turn led to Portugal being invited as the 2017 Focus Country at ESNS – Eurosonic Noorderslag.