This project is inspired by a newspaper article in which the UN spotlights the fact that the roots of American blues can be traced to Africa. With this document we hope to inspire possible partners in a cooperative project and also give a basic plan to use in eventual grant applications for the completion of the project. 

Initiators
The ideas for this project were formed through discussions blues musician Trond Ytterbø and photographers Jørn Stensvold and Morten Gjerde, all from Notodden , Norway .

The central themes in the discussions have been: culture exchange between nations, cross-profesional expression in art, sosial aspects with this type of project, slave trade between America and Africa, the origins of blues music, and African albinos standard of living in modern Africa .  

Trond Ytterbø (f:1956): One of Norway’s foremost practitioners on the Norwegian blues scene and front figure in the Notodden Blues Band, Trond has been a full time musician for many years and is considered to be one of Norway’s top bluesmen. Trond is an albino and due to this has only 10% of his sight.

Jørn Stensvold (f:1953): Jørn works dayly with problems surrounding drug and alcohol abuse. He has worked the past 25 years as a photographer and has, together with Morten Gjerde, completed several unique photo projects both in and out of Norway .

Morten Gjerde (f:1964): A photographer with more than 20 years experience, Morten works full time with different forms of photography. His work is regulary published in magazines  and boards world wide. He has a variety of experience within the culture sector including several years as leader for the Notodden Blues festival. He has earlier worked for 15 years as a humanitarian vollenteer working at all levels within the Norweian Red Cross

The Idea
With this project we hope to create a cultural exchage between nations through a blending of music and photography.

To show pictures in combination with music is nothing new in itself, but we hope to do this in a unique way by further binding together different elements in order to set this in a new light. The project’s social engagement will be an important contribution and, most certainly, that the artists from two different genrés in Norway meet fellow African practitioners, and that their interaction will be that which brings forth the desired end result. A forging together of experiences from two different cultural nations, each from their own side of the globe.

The project will focus on several different elements but the combination of music and photography will be the pillar of the project.

In a nutshell, we hope that this cultural exchange will produce a concert where the musical inhold will be presented together with the pictures as a whole, the pictures shown as a backdrop during the musical presentation. We want both the music and the picture to have equal worth.  The one shall support the other and vice verse.

In order to give the project social engagement, we wish to cooperate with musicians from Africa that are albino. We wish this because Trond Ytterbø has this condition and we know that African albinos endure great challenges in their homeland. We wish to bring about an awareness of this fact. We already have two names of national and international status that could be interesting partners for this part of the project.

We want to set focus on the human value of this oppressed group. Through a cooperation with the albino’s rights organisation in Africa , this project could perhaps be a positive contribution to the organisations local and national work. It is a paradox that in this day and age the African albinos are in a way fighting their own ”race war” against their own people. And this is happening decades after the blacks themselves have fought their way to human worth through the abolishment of race discrimanation.

We believe that this type of social profile will contribute to to a unique, positive character for the project. This is also important with the thought of obtaining the interest from possible future cooperative partners (Grant commitees, different interest groups, external sponcers and the media). 

Obvious cooperative partners
During the interductory phase we wish to come in contact with someone who can gather the correct contacts for this project, especially persons or organisations with direct contacts in Africa . However, it will also be necessary to have ties to different expertise on all levels of this project.

Different rolls we see as advantageous for the completion of the project: 

·         Project leaders, including economy, subsidations etc.

·         Personnel with knowledge of production concerning technical solutions for the picture presentation.

·         Different resourse personnel who can contribute concrete questions tied to different aspects of the project. This includes special people with contacts in Africa.

Others:

·         Ministry of Forein Affairs

·         Norwegian Concert Society

·         Different African organisations in Norway

·         Fund for Sound and Picture

·         Union for the blind

·         Rights organisations for albinos in Africa

Media

·         Dagbladet (Tabloid)

·         NRK TV

·         Other press channels as needed

What we can contribute
Our contribution is that we have a strong idea that we believe in. An idea in which we are convinced will be be a culture bearer that gives something back in the form of cultural appreciation and increased cultural awareness. This will contribute in the war for increased understanding between people with different ethnic origins, give new and exciting cross-professional art, give albinos in Africa a hope that they mean something and it will bring lasting bonds between artists from our two parts of the world.