One of the most powerful examples of how sound, rhythm, music, and percussion can contribute to positive change is Basket Beat from Barcelona. Basket Beat is a participatory music project, and working methodology, developed by Josep Maria Aragay, that uses basketballs as percussion instruments to help young people in disadvantaged situations or in closed institutions such as prisons, with their personal development and critical thinking skills.
Through workshop formats, Basket Beat facilitate valuable group processes where participants learn to trust each other and feel responsible for one another – because they are all equally responsible for keeping the rhythm alive. With their combination of social-artistic work, sound, rhythm, beats and group work, Basket Beat show how making music together can build bridges between people from many different contexts.
Prior to ICAF 2023, Basket Beat will work with a group of young people and youth workers from Urban Skillsz and a group of young people from Rotterdams Wijktheater. Over an intensive 10-day period, led by Basket Beat, these young people will experience what it means to follow a rhythm together, to make music together, to contribute to the dynamics of a group in which each individual is equally important. After the intensive 10 day working period, they will perform together with a professional band from Barcelona as the official opening performance of ICAF 2023, heralding ‘the sound of change’ the festival embodies.