Indoors and out with FINA
2002 Festival International Nuits d'Afriques -16th Edition
In a sea of overcrowded and overhyped festivals, it has been an excellent year for the Nuits d'Afrique, still delivering wonderful music in a warm atmosphere. We've seen memorable performances from Thomas Mapfumo, Fémi Kuti, Alpha Yaya Diallo, and a score of others. Algeria, Cuba, Madagascar, Cameroon, Nigeria: a true festival not just of "world music" but of music from all over the world.
This, all despite the now well-publicised government SNAFU of federal Minister of Public Works Ralph Goodale's suspension of funding for Nuits d'Afrique (along with many others) following investigations into "irregularities" in the ministry's disbursement of funds.
Of course, big fests like Just For Laughs still received their money, even with the supposed moratorium in place, but let's not get bitter about it. The outdoor shows—the best part of a festival—have begun.
Not content to merely put crowds in front of musicians, Nuits d'Afrique organizers want to immerse attendees in an African experience. And
these guys do the outdoor thing right. Instead of closing off blocks of the city, clogging its streets with mobs of bored and confused tourists, the site for outdoor shows at Nuits d'Afrique, Place Émilie-Gamelin (the park at Berri & Ste-Catherine), has been transformed into an african village. There are music and dance workshops, clothing and knick-knacks for sale at the Timbuktu market of kiosks lining the park, and even exotic eats at a terrace set up for the occasion.
And why not? Daniel Feist, English-language spokesman for Nuits d'Afriques, has been seeing more and more openness and acceptance to world music and culture in recent years.
"I got into African music because I was terribly bored with everything else," says Feist. The once Montreal-based DJ, journalist, and teacher has long been associated with the radio program Rhythms International on Mix 96. For the last 4 years though, he's been producing this world music-oriented show from Johannesburg, mixing tunes he's found in his new environment with interviews recorded on DAT, then Fed Ex-ing it to Montreal for his regular 8 to 10 p.m. Sunday night slot.
But does he see a day where we'll stop pigeonholing all of non-North American, non-pop music into the catch-all of World Beat? "No," says Feist, "we're all basically creatures of habit. We like what we know and what is familiar to us." And, he admits, we've an odd approach to music over here "Can you imagine," he says," instead of seeing R&B, Soul, or Funk in the music stores we just had an 'all-white' section - with Mozart and Rock music all mixed together?"
Still, Feist says, collectively we're beginning to retrain our ears to other sounds. Let's hope the festival can ride out the current funding tangle—and we can hear those sounds next year (...and the year after that).
See their web site for details, or dial the Info Festival at (514) 499-FINA
The International Festival Nuits d'Afrique wraps its 16th year with a full weekend of music, continuing to Sunday, July 21.
You can write to The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Works at
ncr.editor@pwgsc.gc.ca or via the Government of Canada web site.
[ lower photo shows Koffi Koffiento. pics © courtesy FINA ]
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