(August 30, 2017) “We saw, after the Tenco of 1989, the start of his journey. A journey into the history of music and man, in the geography of the soul and the myth, pursuing the suggestions of marine currents. He took us to the ports of Livorno, Hamburg and Athens; He has been exploring sea music such as rebetico, morna, tango, taranta; He is immersed in the myths of Melville and in a tale of a traveler like Céline. The Tenco Prize could have been assigned to him only in the edition titled Sea Lands”. With these reasons, Vinicio Capossela was awarded the 2017 Tenco Prize. But his “trip” also stopped in the Balkans, so that at the opening of the VI edition of the Italian culture season in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Italian songwriter will embark on a tour in the country, which will stop in Sarajevo on September 16, Banja Luka on September 18 and Mostar on September 20. Concerts, made at the invitation of our Embassy, will take place at the National Theaters of the three cities. “This is not a casual choice,” Ambassador Nicola Minasi said, “since Capossela, a full-fledged artist, songwriter, poet and writer, has always been close to the Balkans and Bosnia in particular. Already in his first novel, Non si muore tutte le mattine (You don’t die every morning)’, he also speaks of Sarajevo after the war, and his style and folk sounds have many elements in common with the musical traditions of the Balkans”. Capossela is therefore the ideal artist to show the closeness between the Italian and Balkan music traditions and to emphasize that even the light and popular music of the two areas belong to the same cultural and imaginary world. (Red)