IVORY COAST: Ivorian musicians hit the right notes with promotion of balafon instrument

Record ID: 182329

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Ivorian musicians hit the right notes with promotion of balafon instrument
  • Date: 29th April 2013
  • Summary: STREET SCENES WITH BALAFON ARTISTS PLAYING ALONG ROAD SIDE/CARS PASSING BY AND PEOPLE WALKING
  • Embargoed: 14th May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cote d'Ivoire
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Topics: Arts
  • Reuters ID: LVA25NXZHC1U61GHZ0JGFGMP4SVF
  • Story Text: For generations, the sounds of the balafon, a type of xylophone predominantly found in West Africa, have provided a soundtrack to important family events like weddings and funerals, and even daily rituals like prayer and work.
    Today cultural and music enthusiasts in Ivory Coast hope to craft a more prominent place for the instrument in the increasingly globalized music scene.
    This month the United Nation's cultural organization, UNESCO, launched an initiative in the commercial capital, Abidjan that will not only fund the training of balafon artists, but also a new factory where modernized balafons can be built.
    Ba Banga Nyeck, one of Ivory Coast's premier balafon artists, created and presented the proposal to UNESCO for the project to create a cultural industry based on the balafon.
    He said training on the modernized version of this ancient instrument will help ensure its survival for years to come.

    "There will be a lot more training for teachers, training for teachers will help us promote the practice of this instrument at the highest level. At a certain level really that will help instrumentalists cope with the global challenges in modern music," said Nyeck.
    Felix Alain Tahi, Director of the National Culture Center for the Minister of Culture and the Francophonie, said it is essential to adapt the instrument to modern times by creating balafons that have a standard scale.
    The process involves taking the traditional diatonic balafons and adding sharp notes, thereby making the instrument more dynamic and compatible to a modern and global musical range.

    "This initiative is specifically aimed at ensuring a uniform way of making and creating these instruments. That is to say that the craft of manufacturing these instruments (balafon) is a craft that has its own processes, its own rules, but also one that offers opportunities," said Tahi.
    In addition to building a factory and training manufacturers of the instrument, UNESCO's 50,000 US dollar-fund will also train at least 20 musicians to start with -- 10 men and 10 women.
    UNESCO officials in Ivory Coast say that they hope the initiative to promote the balafon will also attract tourists and promote Ivorian culture world-wide.

    "There is no such thing as a subculture - every culture has its intrinsic value, a dignity that we must promote. These cultures are neglected often because of a lack of resources," said Matthieu Lou Bamba, Secretary General for the Ivorian Commission for UNESCO.
    In 2005, UNESCO added the balafon on its list of items deemed as "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity."
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