The Endless Journey
The Endless Journey is the title of a touring event that is a live music show, a documentary film and a photographic exhibition. This is the story of a group of musicians from Niger, West Africa, who travelled the world promoting their nomadic culture and desert blues music only to realise that whilst they were away their children were turning their back’s on their cultural heritage. So they took a desert road trip to try to reinvigorate the tradition for a new generation. German photographer and film-maker Jean Molitor accompanied them and the resulting exhibition and documentary film are a new dimension to this touring show. The musicians are Mamane Barka and Oumarou Adamou who toured the UK in 2010 and Alhousseini Anivolla and Bammo Agonla from Etran Finatawa who have spent the last 7 years performing world-wide. In this new collaboration their hypnotic musical groove evokes the breathless heat and shimmering horizon of the Sahara bringing together the electric guitar beloved of Tuareg musicians, the haunting vocals of the Wodaabe, the rippling strings of biram master Mamane Barka and the instinctive hypnotic percussion of Griot Oumarou Adamou.
Drought, poverty, globalisation and the spread of radical Islamic ideas are rapidly changing the landscape in Niger both environmentally and politically. The grasslands are barren and the way of life for Nomadic peoples across the sub Saharan region is increasingly unsustainable. Migration to the city is the only option remaining for many. It’s a dramatic contrast for people whose survival has for centuries revolved around their livestock, with their lives played out across the shifting sands. Once in the city the pressure to blend into the ‘urban’ community is a powerful force deeply eroding cultural identity within a single generation.
The four musicians at the heart of ‘The Endless Journey’ understand that losing cultural identity makes their country poor, but without a champion for diversity it’s a very bleak future indeed.
The Film ‘The Rolling Music Lesson’ and Photographic Exhibition
Taking positive action Etran Finatawa, Mamane Barka and Oumarou Adamou embarked on a road trip, ’The Rolling Music Lesson’, to take their music to outlying schools across Niger. Their intention was to inspire the children to value their cultural heritage by meeting musicians who have travelled and performed their traditions world wide. Internationally acclaimed photographer and film-maker Jean Molitor accompanied them and documented their musical journey and the extraordinary response they received. The subtitled documentary film gives a rare glimpse of contemporary village life in one of the poorest countries in the world. The exhibition contrasts scenes of bustling activity with serenely composed portraiture.
The Documentary Film and Exhibition on tour
The documentary film and photographic exhibition of images by Jean Molitor are available to promoters of ‘The Endless Journey’ to screen and project a month in advance of the performance. The performance itself incorporates specially mixed visuals projected behind the performers in a powerful and emotive live experience.
The Participants
Tuareg singer, guitarist and songwriter Alhousseini Anivolla and Wodaabe singer Bammo Agonla have toured Europe, Canada, America and Australia with the internationally acclaimed group Etran Finatawa. Mamane Barka is a charismatic musician and ethnomusicologist who is widely known in Niger as a virtuoso ugurumi player. Internationally, he is best known as the last master of the Biram, a sacred instrument of the Boudouma people that he learnt in order to save it from obscurity. Oumarou Adamou, the son of a Hausa Griot, is a famed percussionist and lifelong friend of Barka. Together, their swirling strings, driving rhythms and haunting vocals evoke the vast open spaces of the desert and the very soul of nomadic life.
Feature on Mamane Barka in fRoots Jan 2009. Click HERE to download
‘The Endless Journey’ brings together four musicians from two of Niger’s leading internationally known music groups, Mamane Barka and Etran Finatawa. For the last six years both groups have been preoccupied with bringing the music and culture of their respective (and adopted) nomadic tribes to the world stage. But now there is a more urgent need to move from being cultural ambassadors abroad to being cultural activists at home. Each time they return to Niger it is more evident that traditions, and with it cultural identity, are being lost. ‘The Endless Journey’ is a multi media event recounting their efforts to stem the haemorrhaging of Niger’s cultural heritage in film, images and music.
Drought, poverty, globalisation and the spread of radical Islamic ideas are rapidly changing the landscape in Niger both environmentally and politically. The grasslands are barren and the way of life for Nomadic peoples across the sub Saharan region is increasingly unsustainable. Migration to the city is the only option remaining for many. It’s a dramatic contrast for people whose survival has for centuries revolved around their livestock, with their lives played out across the shifting sands. Once in the city the pressure to blend into the ‘urban’ community is a powerful force deeply eroding cultural identity within a single generation.
The four musicians at the heart of ‘The Endless Journey’ understand that losing cultural identity makes their country poor, but without a champion for diversity it’s a very bleak future indeed.
The Film ‘The Rolling Music Lesson’
Taking positive action Etran Finatawa, Mamane Barka and Oumarou Adamou embarked on a road trip, ’The Rolling Music Lesson’, to take their music to outlying schools across Niger. Their intention was to inspire the children to value their cultural heritage by meeting musicians who have travelled and performed their traditions world wide. Internationally acclaimed photographer and film-maker Jean Molitor accompanied them and documented their musical journey and the extraordinary response they received. The subtitled documentary film gives a rare glimpse of contemporary village life in one of the poorest countries in the world. The exhibition contrasts scenes of bustling activity with serenely composed portraiture.
To view a CNN Online News report featuring the Rolling Music Lesson CLICK HERE
323x.jpg "Mamane and Oumarou")
Tech Spec not yet available, but the following is a guide to PA requirements
Touring as a four piece The Endless Journey will include:
Alhousseini Mohamed Anivolla – Electric guitar & Vocals
Bammo Agonla – vocals and percussion
Mamane Barka – Nguruni (African lute) Biram and vocals
Oumarou Adamou – Douma drums, djembe and vocals
Facility to project DVD film onto a screen behind stage.
Mamane Barka Wo Kuru
Imuzaran on 'Tarkat Tajje/Let's Go!' by Etran Finatawa
The Endless Journey
The Endless Journey
