Berlin, Germany - This year's WOMEX Award will go to Zanzibar's most famous cultural ambassador, Bi Kidude. In her 90's now, she started her career as a Taraab singer in the 1920's. Since then, she not only helped to maintain the cultural heritage, but also reinvented it, infusing it with local rhythms, Swahili language and matters of everyday life. She has performed in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Japan working with a vast range of artists.

Coming from a short tour of Europe, Bi Kidude will join WOMEX participants to receive the WOMEX Award 2005 at The Sage Gateshead on Sunday, October 30. The celebration starts at noon. World music journalist Banning Eyre will do the tribute to the woman whose "energy, humanity and achievement through a century of turbulent history in East Africa, has made her an inspiration to all Tanzanians, all Africans, and all of us".

The WOMEX Award gala will also shortly introduce the documentary "As Old As My Tongue. The Myth and Life of Bi Kidude", produced by Screenstation in collaboration with Busara Promotions due for festival release in 2006. Gracing the Award ceremony will be the living legend of Middle Eastern piano, official WOMEX Showcase artist Maurice El Medioni.

Another chance to meet Zanzibar's original barefoot diva at WOMEX will be the interview and Q&A session with WOMEX Jury member Rita Ray who
invites us to take a closer look on Bi Kidude's remarkable story. The session takes place on Sat 29 October from 11:00 - 11:45 in The Barbour Room at The Sage Gateshead and will be translated by Rita's fellow Jury member Yusuf Mahmoud.

In 2006, Bi Kidude will not only be present with the above mentioned documentary, but Buda Musique will also release the album Zanzibara 4: Bi Kidude, produced by Jahazi Media. It will contain songs recorded between 1988 and 2005 by GlobeStyle, Piranha Musik and Jahazi Media and include the documentary trailer of "As Old As My Tongue". The release will be complemented by a tour in summer 2006.

[Photo courtesy of Busara Promotions].