Shishani Vranckx

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Shishani Vranckx (* 1987 in South West Africa ), also known only as Shishani , is a Namibian - Belgian musician ( vocals , guitar , composition ) and cultural anthropologist .

Live and act

Vranckx spent the first five years of her life in Namibia, then in the Netherlands . She got to know Namibian music , especially marimba and choral music , through her father, and jazz through her half-brother, the jazz pianist Ernst Vranckx . She studied jazz for two years at the Prins Claus Conservatory in Groningen, then completed her bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology, before completing a master's degree in musicology .

Vranckx's breakthrough as a singer took place in Africa. Her songs were valued in Namibia. An appearance at the Namibian Annual Music Awards 2011 was followed a year later by winning the Last Band Standing competition (live band). Her song Minority was nominated twice at the Namibian Annual Music Awards 2012.

In 2014 she and percussionist Sjahin During founded Namibian Tales , an acoustic quartet that immerses itself in Namibia's musical traditions. In 2015 the group performed at the Afrika Festival Würzburg . The following year the quartet won the Best World Music Album award in the Netherlands with their debut album Itaala and has been touring internationally since then. In 2017 Namibian Tales traveled to the Kalahari to work with four women from the San community in Namibia. Together they played and recorded the album Kalahari Encounters , which was again the Best World Music Album in the Netherlands in 2017 . In 2018 Namibian Tales & the San Ladies were successfully on tour in Europe. She also performed with Neco Novellas and with Bodek Jankes Song ; On his album Song2 (2019) she also interprets two of her own songs.

Vranckx has also led various arts initiatives in Namibia that focus on social enhancement. She is co-founder of ARTNAM and is committed to promoting Namibian art. In her work as an anthropologist and musicologist, Vranckx has specialized in contemporary urban Namibian music; In 2015 she published on the development of the Namibian music industry in Music in Africa and in 2019 three articles in the Bloomsbury Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Music of the World. She heads a UNESCO funded project Namibian Tales - Kalahari Encounters .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Shishani shares Namibian tales. Windhoek Observer, November 18, 2016.
  2. ↑ Love in the Low Lands
  3. ↑ Ik wil nergens meer bij horen
  4. ↑ a b Een goede tekst voelt eerlijk aan
  5. ↑ a b Shishani contributes to music encyclopedia. The Namibian, July 2, 2019.
  6. ↑ Africa Festival 2015
  7. ^ Entry at the African Studies Center Leiden
  8. ↑ Entry (Conservatorium van Amsterdam)
personal data
SURNAME Vranckx, Shishani
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shishani (stage name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Namibian-Belgian musician (vocals, guitar, composition) and cultural anthropologist
DATE OF BIRTH 1987
PLACE OF BIRTH South West Africa