South African hip-hop artist Nhtabi was one of Sunday's headliners at the Faces Festival at the old industrial village of Billnäs, near Fiskars in the municipality of Pohja. The 10th annual festival attracted more than 12,000 people.
Nhtabi's show was part of the Young Africa programme, which is aimed at raising awareness of Africa among young Finns. Nhtabi says that besides AIDS, wars and famine, there are many positive stories about the continent that need to be heard.
"You do get people who are running workshops, people who are trying to make a change themselves and not waiting for the government to do stuff for them," she says. "So as much as there are bad things there, there are also more good things, but they don't show them on TV."
Faces Cape Town on the Cards The NGO behind Faces, Etnokult, runs multi-cultural festivals in Petrozavodsk, Russia, Banovic, Bosnia, Mitrovica, Kosovo and Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland. It is now planning one in Cape Town, South Africa, as well. Nhtabi, who grew up in the slums of Johannesburg, encourages such inter-ethnic collaboration and rejects the machismo and 'bling' of gangsta rap. "It's all about the message and the music more than it is about what you look like or how you dress," she says. "So it does upset me but at the same time I can't judge other person for what they do, I can just make sure my own music is something that is effective and gets people's attention." This week Nhtabi brings her message to audiences in Tampere (August 4) and Helsinki (August 1, 2 and 7).
