'Music has the power to bring people together' - Beyond Skin representing Belfast and UK at global Make Music Day

An arts organisation from Belfast is set to represent the UK at an upcoming global music event. Beyond Skin and Show Some Love will be working in partnership with the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, the Arab World Institute, and the Make Music Alliance.

They will be partnering up on June 21 for Make Music Day, a day in which musicians from around the world unite their music, and their hearts, through a rhythmic relay.

Working together, the Cultural Olympiad of Paris 2024, the Make Music Alliance, the Arab World Institute and Paris 2024 are collaborating to organize “Pulsations,” a rhythmic relay across 24 different countries worldwide. This relay, brimming with surprises, will be inaugurated by renowned trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, who will set the rhythm with his melodic heartbeat.

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This shared rhythm will resonate across various bands and artists in the 24 participating countries, broadcast live on the Make Music Day platform. In Paris, the live stream will grace large screens above the stage of the Arab World Institute, complementing Ibrahim Maalouf's live concert in the early evening, culminating in the rhythmic relay.

Make Music Day is a flagship event of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad - the cultural program of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Belfast City of Music will be representing the UK with an event managed by Beyond Skin and Show Some Love with Fusionarium, a music project with sonic welder Luigi Cirillo at the helm. It will pick up the music beat torch broadcast at 5pm from the Show Some Love Green House in Belfast city centre.

Joining the Fusionarium broadcast will be Behnam Ghazanfari Pour, Binu Manuel and Zambia music star Smack Jay visiting Belfast supported by Zambia Ministry of Tourism and Culture. A selected audience will be invited to Show Some Love for a longer music performance.

Beyond Skin was founded in 2004 after Northern Ireland hit the headlines on an international scale as the "race hate capital of Europe." Community worker, Darren Ferguson, established the group with the guiding principle of music combating this by spurring on social change.

The group has developed and delivered over 4,000 activities (workshops/exhibitions/festivals/projects) in Northern Ireland in collaboration with 32 countries.

Beyond Skin's principal funder is the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Gilly Campbell, Director of Arts Development at the Arts Council said: "The Arts Council is delighted to support Beyond Skin, thanks to The National Lottery.

"We are hugely proud to see Beyond Skin represent Belfast and the UK as part of Make Music Day and the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad. Music has the power to bring people and communities closer together and, in this case, the world! This promises to be a wonderful and thrilling event and I would encourage everyone to tune in to the live broadcast on the 21st June.”

Jack Lang, President of the Arab World Institute, and Dominique Hervieu, Director of Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, added: "This international performance is poised to be a flagship event of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, the official cultural program of the Olympic and Paralympic Games."

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