WOMAD was one of the first festivals around the world to site education at the core of every event and our WOMAD Beyond programme in Abu Dhabi bringing musicians and visual artists into Abu Dhabi for a pre-festival schools programme, effectively meets that remit to take artists beyond the festival gates and into the wider community. The mandate of the WOMAD Foundation is:

"to promote, maintain, improve and advance education in world cultures, whilst seeking to excite and inform audiences of the worth and potential of a culturally diverse society"

In 2011 we are delighted to be able to build on our previous WOMAD Beyond project conceived in 2010 with ADACH. This year we have designed a programme of 'creative learning' with artists from Egypt, Jamaica, India, UK, Guinea, Cameroon, South Africa and Abu Dhabi, introducing music, vocals, percussion and the visual arts to young people. Students will have the opportunity to participate in workshops, which we hope will broaden their horizons and inspire a creative engagement with the arts, as well as raising an awareness of the richness and diversity of world cultures.

Annie Menter and Mandy Adams, WOMAD Beyond Co-ordinators and managers

Art of the Ndebele (South Africa)
David Cox (UK)
Dot to Dot (UK)
Dubai Drums (UAE)
El Tanbura (Egypt)
Malarky (UK)
Muntu Valdo (Cameroon)
N'Faly Kouyat with Mady Kouyat (Guinea)
Nisreen Simrin (UAE)
Ripton Lindsay (Jamaica)
Taking Shape (UK)
The Dhol Foundation (UK/India)