Music and language

Felix Agossou and Janne Storm

« BRASSAGE » Brewing two cultures depends not on language.

Janne Storm a Finnish musician stipendiate who arrived in Benin on the 30th of August, made his way to Grand-Popo comfortably via inexpressive transport services of Alphonse Bodjrenou, recently ranked to the grade of Field Marshal in Villa Karo. Felix Agossou, the African resident artist already mentioned in our precedent publication on Akasia News, is a great and respected saxophonist in Benin. Both, quiet, brainy and enthusiastic, effortlessly merged their energies to break a relative language barrier because Janne hardly speaks a word in French and Felix speaks no English at all.

They got settled down for business as fast as they can. Lissa Gbassa is the venue of daily practice after breakfast. Sounds that came from their direction pushed my curiousity to invest in their training session by becoming a lonely spectator. Both charming guys Janne and Felix ignored the problematic solvable language barrier with drums, saxophone and the gong all combined to give another language « MUSIC » which is understood by all. Even my five year old grand son understands them with rythmical body movements as I nod my head to accompany him. A third fellow Gabriel is a drummer who assists Felix in his arrangement with Janne. After two weeks of coperation, Janne, Felix and Gabriel have recorded four songs and are preparing the fith. Braaaavooooooo.

KtL

 

Janne, Felix and Gabriel

A Recipe for Understanding

The newspaper Kouvolan Sanomat published a large article about Villa Karo last week (by Henna Mäkelin, Sept. 6th). The article was based upon VK’s last year’s scholarship holder Aleksi Saraskari’s experiences in working with local musicians in Benin. According to Aleksi, a tuba player, his first impressions on his Beninese colleagues’ percussion skills weren’t favourable. The two fellows playing balafon and djembe seemed like nice chaps but their beat was odd, not precise enough to a highly educated musician.

Although their first session wasn‘t very satisfying, he decided to take part in another one the next day. This time the trio was joined by a fourth member, another local djembe player. When the locals started their odd beat again a revelation hit the Finn: the two djembes were playing the same weird, imprecise rhythm minute after minute, synchronously. Aleksi understood that this time it actually wasn’t their sense of rhythm but his that needed work. In his own words, he had to forget about what he had learned in Sibelius Academy and start from scratch in order to learn to play the local music. I wonder how often a hasty conclusion, like the one Aleksi first made, is the reason for misunderstandings in multicultural encounters. For it is so easy and yet so ineffective to try and grasp something that is different when the process of understanding is based merely on one’s own knowledge and experience of the world.

Aleksi’s method proved to be very effective. At first, he simply put his instrument down and started the process of learning by simply listening the beat that was so unintuitive for him. This resulted in friendship and musical partnership with the Beninese musicians. In fact, one of them, Georges Agbazahou, is in Finland as I’m writing this to teach music and play concerts with Aleksi and other Finnish musicians. And of course, to also take his turn in being the cultural pupil that Aleksi was in Benin a year ago.

Aleksi also learned from his African colleagues a motto that is always worth saying, writing, publishing, posting and even shouting out loud: L‘amour règne! Love rules! And that this thought should be the aiming point for all of us.

A clip from the article from Kouvolan Sanomat with Aleksi‘s colleagues‘ motto (never mind the typo).

6296 Kilometers up North

Being in Finland doesn’t necessarily mean being so far away from Villa Karo, Grand-Popo and Benin. This was noticed again yesterday, when Helsingin Juhlaviikkoklubi was filled with people who came to listen Beninese musician Alpha Omega singing and playing djembes and balafon. Familiar African rhythms and songs filled the club of the National Theater and in the end people were dancing as if they were in the coast of Golfe de Guinée, sand in their feet and warm wind blowing in the air. If we Finns are like jars with their lids still tightly closed, as Alpha had said (and we are, I completely agree), music and dance are most likely the best ways to open up those jars. And now, when autumn, winter and cold are approaching, it is good to gain energy through art and exchange of cultures – to be ever more able to open up to others.

The dialogue between Benin and Finland can be experienced right now also in Kiasma in the works of Romuald Hazoume and Georges Adéagbo who have been invited to participate in the Ars 2011 exhibition.

Last time I saw Hazoume’s work, I was in Porto Novo, where Hazoume’s recycled statues of petrol canisters stand in the yard of the palace of King Toffa (now Musée Honme) and tell the story of modernization, changes in environment and in traditions.  In Kiasma Hazoume exhibits his recycled masks and a large snake made of used tyres. Snakes are considered holy in Benin, and the idea is, that they don’t harm people unless they are harmed. The same philosophy expands to technology and markets, which are neither good nor bad in essence, but whose use is becoming more and more problematic all over the world.

In another room in Kiasma, Georges Adéagbo forms a dialogue between political histories of Benin and Finland. A room-sized collage consists of objects Adéagbo has collected in both countries, from fetish-statues to books and newspapers. To those, who happened to be in Benin last spring, familiar objects include the electoral poster of Yayi Boni, the president of Benin, and also a page of a report of an art workshop which took place in Villa Karo in January and was lead by Finnish-Beninese group of artists and art educators (Pekka Lehtimäki, Victor Amoussou and Leea Pienimäki-Amoussou, see Ateneum).

As it happens, also Victor Amoussou’s and Leea Pienimäki-Amoussou’s work can be seen soon in Finland, when their exhibition opens on 3^rd September in Hämeenlinna. Like Hazoume’s, Amoussou’s work treats the subjects of modernization and change. His perspective is optimistic and two-fold: looking back to the traditions and history and trying to build bridges in time and between cultures. His animistic and environmental ethics is well visible in his work, as well as his ability to form a dialogue between African and European traditions and philosophies and make the connections more intelligible.

Anna Ovaska

Alpha Omega playing with Georges Agbazahou at Juhlaviikkoklubi, Helsinki. Photo by Pekka Lehtimäki.

September Dream

Creative ideas animated by shear determination are the only path to courageously accept whatever comes your way via Nature. It’s not easy to convince your entourage to accept the reality of life. Significant, positive consequences resulting from exchange of opinions could lead to a wide range of opportunities full of great value to human race.  Bright future does not depend on running around like hell to amass wealth but the capacity to live and share ideas with others thus creating a mutual understanding for peaceful cohabitation.

In some days to come, Finnish-African Cultural Centre “Villa Karo” will be receiving an African stipendiate, Felix AGOSSOU, a saxophonist who has knowledge in handling many instruments. Very talented Felix plays with most of the popular bands in Benin. He will be collaborating with two musicians from Finland; a rock-musician, drummer from one of the most popular rock-bands in Finland with concerts all over Europe, the other is an experimental and very creative composer who makes music from all kinds of instruments. Felix a Fôn by origin started his musical carrier with great names in music both from the cities and hinterlands of the republic of Benin.  Much is awaited from this multi instrumentalist who looks forward to discover other experiences in the music world especially from a Nordic country like Suomi.

Apart from painters, sculptors etc, this is the first time Villa Karo is receiving an African musician as resident artist and fortunately Felix is performing  with Jonny Sourou on the 3^rd September 2011 concert that opens Villa Karo’s year. Let’s wait and see what happens. Inga Rikandi, Katja Lunden , Osmo  Räihälä, Noêl Saizonou , George Agbazahou, Abdoulai & co know what I mean by this kind of collaboration.  Dance with me now!!!! Mä olen mies, mä olen mies, jolle ei koskaan tapahdu mitäää.  Holalaaaaaaaa!! Elàlézolooo!!!.

Kwassi  D. AKPLADOKOU

felix agossou

Finnish-Beninese Co-operation

This is a great example of the co-operation between Villa Karo’s scholarship holders and Grand-Popo’s local musicians: Inga, Lauri, Adja and Georges. The video is made by another scholarship holder, Antti Seppänen. They all were in Villa Karo in the first months of 2011.

La Force Lumineuse from Antti Seppänen on Vimeo.