Launched in 2018 as an itinerant platform exploring Algerian musical heritage to shape a contemporary electronic identity.
El Moutanakil is the most influential musical and cultural platform within the underground electronic music scene in Algeria.
Founded in 2018, El Moutanakil (The Itinerant) is an independent cultural and musical platform that explores the intersections between research, creation, experimentation, and archiving. Rooted in exchange and collaboration, our platform draws its strength from its interaction with musicians, producers, artists, concert promoters, festivals, and cultural spaces, both in Algeria and internationally.
Our mission is to create spaces—whether physical or digital—capable of addressing the concrete needs of the Algerian music scene.
We strive to facilitate access to music in all its diversity, to support independent artists throughout their journeys, and to foster the emergence of a collective dynamic within underground and subcultural scenes.
Since our inception, El Moutanakil has carried the ambition of advancing the music scene in Algeria. Through clear short, medium, and long-term objectives, we are opening new pathways for our community by supporting emerging talents and breaking down barriers between artists and institutions.
After several years of grassroots work, we are now entering a new phase where we have launched EL Mahatta (The Station), a name that reflects El Moutanakil (The Itinerant) finding a stable home after years of nomadism.
This space marks the beginning of a broader project: developing an independent cultural center where inspiration, creation, production, dissemination, and artist residencies come together.
Research-driven encounters with ancestral instruments, rhythms and contemporary production.
The traveling audio and video project "EL MOUTANAKIL" in its quest for new
sounds makes its first stopover in the Algerian Sahara offering an experience
combining universal electronic music and local traditional music from TAGHIT
The project was carried out in partnership with the French Institute in Algeria.
The musical platform, EL MOUTANAKIL discovers new sounds and landscapes and
makes a new stopover in the Algerian Grand Sahara (Timimoun) with a residency
combining electronic music and inspiration from the music of the Gourara region.
The project is in partnership with the German Embassy in Algeria and the French
Institute.
A sound experience in Basel (Switzerland) - August 2021 in partnership with the POLYFON Festival in Basel,
a cultural exchange project between Algerian and Swiss musicians taking place in two phases:
1- November 2020: remote sound creation between Algerian and Swiss artists
1.1 – the creation of a collective, Transmitting Voices
https://transmittingvoices.bandcamp.com/
2- From July 31 to August 22, 2021: artistic residency and performance at the POLYFON Festival in Basel, Switzerland
The musical platform, EL MOUTANAKIL
discovers new sounds and landscapes and
makes a new stopover in the Algerian Grand
Sahara (Djanet) the country of the Tuaregs, with
a residency mixing German, Italian and Algerian
electronic music with inspiration from the music
of the region. of the Tuaregs.
The project is in partnership with:
L’ArtRue Tunisia, All Around Culture, European
Union, French Embassy in Algeria, French
Institute Algiers, Istituto Italiano Di Cultura Di
Algeri, German Embassy in Algeria, Ministry of
Culture
After the first stage of research and artistic residence in the lands of the Tuaregs. The work of the second part of the project
is devoted to activities that meet our objective of participating in the revitalization and accessibility of Tuareg culture to the general public:
- Broadcast of performances and Encounters EP2
- Workshop for making ancestral instruments
- Tindi songs writing workshop
-Dissemination of the Tuareg culture through an exhibition on the Metaverse
The project is in partnership with:
L’ArtRue Tunisia, All Around Culture, European Union.
A research residency around the music of
the Madahate ال مد اح ات and the music
scene in Oran.
An incredible experience in collaboration
with the artist Leilam00n.
A program full of encounters and
exchanges with the artists that allowed us
to better understand the context and
musical practices in Oran.
The project is in partnership with:
Pro Helvetia, German Embassy in Algeria,
French Institute in Algeria
Listening sessions, collective writing, theory and practice around sound, image, and territory.
DJANET · FIELD WORKSHOP
December 2022, After our artistic residence in the lands of the Tuaregs, we carried out workshops with the Tuareg artists in order to participate in the safeguarding of ancestral practices and music.
ATELIER · DJING INITIATION
February 2022, An introductory DJing workshop (Becoming a DJ) dedicated to young girls who want to discover and learn the basics of DJing and how DJ decks work.
WORKSHOP · BECOMING A DJ
November 2024, An introductory DJing workshop dedicated to young girls who want to discover and learn the basics of DJing and how DJ decks work.
Algiers - Berlin connection
EL Moutanakil in collaboration with the German Embassy in Algeria invites a legend of the Berlin music scene. This is a digital encounter with Mark Reeder who shared his experience in the Berlin music scene before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. This exchange allows us to participate in strengthening connections between the musical scenes of Algiers and Berlin. The meeting took place on Thursday, November 9, 2023 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Participation was open to all actors (DJ, musician, producer, show promoter, visual artist, technician, cultural actor) of the underground and independent music scene but also to the public passionate about experimental electronic music.
Field journeys and residencies captured across the Algerian Sahara and beyond.
We collaborate and run differents shows on different paltforms
Live shows, rooftop parties, and hybrid encounters between traditional music and electronics.
WATCH
REBOOT playing an exclusive Sunset DJ SET at Timghas, Djanet, Algeria.
WATCH
IDRISS D playing an exclusive Sahara Sunrise Selection at Petit Sefare, Djanet, Algeria.
WATCH
DARK MATE aka Harr (حار) an encounter between electronic music and ancestral music AHELLIL from the Gourara region.
WATCH
Open sessions following residencies: from making instruments to DJ training.
WATCH
REBOOT playing an exclusive DJ SET @ Alpha Tango Studio.
WATCH
Dans un lieu de culture et de patrimoine datant de 1715, EL MOUTANAKIL fait rentrer pour la toute première fois la culture de la musique électronique underground à DAR ABDELTIF.
WATCH
Dans un lieu de culture et de patrimoine datant de 1715, EL MOUTANAKIL fait rentrer pour la toute première fois la culture de la musique électronique underground à DAR ABDELTIF.
WATCH
Dans un lieu de culture et de patrimoine datant de 1715, EL MOUTANAKIL fait rentrer pour la toute première fois la culture de la musique électronique underground à DAR ABDELTIF.
We are an organic contemporary platform dedicated to non-mainstream music, connecting and offering support for its creators, practitioners, and promoters throughout the entire process—from creation to production to diffusion.
Transmitting Stones serves as a home for musicians, technicians, creators, organizers of digital or physical spaces, thinkers, activists, music lovers, and archivists alike.
Our mission is to cultivate a space for reflection, dialogue, and experimental exchanges that delve into the current needs and challenges of this vibrant non-mainstream music field, where opportunities, spaces, and funding are less prevalent.
Through deliberate, unhurried processes and genuine human connections, we strive to develop new tools that foster sustainable accessibility, innovation, connections, and creation across a solid and sustainable digital and physical network spanning the three countries.
While currently bridging Algeria, Tunisia, and Switzerland, our vision extends beyond. We aspire to extend our exchange and journeys by dismantling borders between disciplines, countries, and continents. Our long-term goal is to expand and fortify this community platform through more creators, cultural practitioners, partners, and collaborators, ensuring its sustainability, efficiency, and diversity in North Africa and the global South.
Bookings, residencies & collaborations.
We usually reply within 2–3 business days.
Press kit available on request.
