Welcoming world music with open arms<\/p>\n
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Singapore<\/p>\n
First time was a charm, and the second experience of watching the
\nrecent World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival did not do
\nany harm.<\/p>\n
In fact, in its seventh year, the festival remained fresh and
\nexciting, indulging people in the crosscultural experience of
\nhearing sounds from around the planet, with acts from Cameroon to
\nMadagascar, Ghana to Israel, Algeria and also Indonesia,
\nrepresented by dangdut singer Inul Daratista.<\/p>\n
Held in spacious, comfortable Fort Canning Park, members of
\nthe audience could spread their picnic tablecloth on the grass,
\nand feast on performances on three surrounding stages.<\/p>\n
They could also interact with artists in a workshop held
\ninside a gallery, or visit the global village, where rows of
\ntents served a variety of meals just as representative of the
\nworld's cuisines, from satay to fish and chips and pizza.<\/p>\n
Looking for something else? Massage, aura readings and reiki
\ntherapy were also on site.<\/p>\n
The main event, however, was performances from 22 artists from
\n13 different countries.<\/p>\n
Highlights included Zap Mama, a sassy, all-girl Cameroon
\nsinging phenomenon with gorgeous voices, Ghana's ace
\npercussionist Ben Baddoo, Algerian Hamid Baroudi, Senegalese hip
\nhop group Daara J and Cameroon chanteuse Coco Mbassi.<\/p>\n
Zap Mama's mixture of soul, funk, dub and Afro-Cuban rhythm,
\nwith their acrobatic voices and humor, sparked up the night.<\/p>\n
Baroudi, meanwhile, was mesmerizing as he presented an
\namalgamation of funk, West African, drum 'n' bass, and much more.<\/p>\n
Mbassi's delicate and soulful voice blended perfectly as he
\nchanted in a sound rooted in elements of jazz, classical and
\nblues.<\/p>\n
Other crowd favorites included Temple of Sound and Talvin
\nSingh from the United Kingdom, and local percussion group Wicked
\nAura Batucada.<\/p>\n
Singaporean Al-Bedouin Middle Eastern Music Ensemble sparked
\nlaughter and interest as they gave a crash course in basic belly
\ndance movements, with a rotund Chinese woman as the performer.<\/p>\n
Founded in 1982 by rock icon Peter Gabriel, WOMAD aims at
\nincorporating music from all over the world. The festival has
\ngrown to become the biggest international music festival, held in
\nmore than 21 countries with an estimated 2,000 international
\nartists playing for over one million people.<\/p>\n
WOMAD Singapore was founded in 1988 as a curtain raiser for
\nthe Singapore Arts Festival, and has continued as an annual
\ninternational music festival.<\/p>\n
\"Seven years ago, the festival was a very new idea in
\nSingapore, and nobody knew what world music was all about,\" said
\nfestival director Sarah Martin.<\/p>\n
\"Now, however, people are coming to see artists and the kind
\nof music you've never heard of. I think it has become a great
\nexperience that you rarely find anywhere else,\" she said, adding
\nthat around 15,000 people came to last year's event, with the
\nsame figure estimated for this year.<\/p>\n
However, Martin said that the committee wanted to move away
\nfrom the tag line of world music, the very pure sound (a.k.a.
\ntraditional) they stuck to in the first few years.<\/p>\n
No wonder there was Temple of Sound and Talvin Singh, whose
\nmusic could be found at clubs all over the world.<\/p>\n
\"WOMAD also means music from different countries, let's say
\nfrom Senegal. People might think the music is like beach music,
\netc. But they have progressed, they have their own version of pop
\nculture that people here in Singapore might see as new,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"People think WOMAD is a cultural entity, that's why many very
\ntraditional artists sent their tapes to us, asking to perform
\nhere. They don't quite realize that we actually take many, many
\nforms of music.\"<\/p>\n
The same goes for Inul, the first Indonesian artist to ever
\nperform at WOMAD Singapore.<\/p>\n
\"A lot of people have a preconceived notion about what dangdut
\nis like, how performers should do dangdut music,\" Martin said
\nabout the popular Indonesian music, which is a hybrid of Indian,
\nArab and Malay music.<\/p>\n
\"We want to change the fact that there's only one way of
\nlooking at it. There are many, many other ways and Inul is one of
\nthe many, many ways of looking at it. She's the perfect choice
\nfor this year.\"<\/p>\n
Taking up the main stage, it was a bit surreal to see Inul
\nperforming in another country.<\/p>\n
But she did quite a good job, belting out seven songs, ranging
\nfrom her own hits like Goyang Inul (Inul's Dance) and Kocok-kocok
\n(Shaken), to dangdut covers of Indonesian rock group Dewa's
\nsongs, as well as Shakira's Objection (Tango) and Four Non
\nBlondes' What's Up?.<\/p>\n
The audience cheered and danced to her tunes, not only the
\nIndonesian spectators, but also Westerners.<\/p>\n
The outstanding thing about WOMAD's audience was how
\nappreciative they were. There were no boos, catcalling or
\nheckling. And they responded eagerly to the artist's request to
\nparticipate in the performances.<\/p>\n
\"The audiences are great, they're open to anything, not having
\nthat block .. They have open arms,\" Martin said.<\/p>\n
She asked if it would be possible to organize an event like
\nWOMAD in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"It's very simple actually. In all countries that we work in,
\nwe either have a very strong partner, and we need a strong
\norganizer in that country. We also need some level of government
\nsupport, tourism, cultural links. It's easier to do our work with
\nthat support,\" said Martin, adding that WOMAD is a commercial
\nentity and commercially viable.<\/p>\n
According to Martin, she only had a team of eight to organize
\nthe event, with a huge pool of volunteers.<\/p>\n
Let's go through the requirements for the event and see how we
\nstack up.<\/p>\n
Open and spacious yet comfortable space? Nope. An organized
\norganizing committee? Well, let's not forget the dozens of
\nconcerts and arts festivals that have been disasters. Government
\nsupport? Appreciative audience?<\/p>\n
Guess we've still got a long way to go.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/welcoming-world-music-with-open-arms-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }