Tales of terror echo at African festival

VERY modern tales of religious intolerance, Islamist terrorism and illegal immigration are being heard as African storytellers tackle the burning issues of today – far from the traditional bedtime stories for children.

Storytelling had top billing last week at the 10th edition of the biannual Market for African Performing Arts, known by its French acronym MASA.

About 1 000 artists from more than 50 countries gathered in Ivory Coast for a week-long festival of music, theatre, dance, comedy, slam poetry and storytelling, which ended on Saturday.

Burkina Faso storyteller Francois Moise Bamba addressed religious intolerance in his performance, “No one has a monopoly on God”.

The leading character in the tale constantly shifts with ease from one religion to another – Catholicism to Islam and Protestantism.

“Every family has stories similar to mine in which my father was a Muslim before becoming a Christian and I’ve lived with Christian uncles, Muslim uncles, and that’s not caused any problem,” Bamba said.

The performance by another Burkina storyteller known as KPG was called “Kossyam” after the presidential palace in Ouagadougou and evokes democratic aspirations and the popular uprising that overthrew Blaise Compaore’s regime in 2014.

One of the best-known storytellers, Ahmed Bouzzine, has penned a tale on illegal African immigration to Europe.

“We try to write the legends of today and what will be told in 100 or 1 000 years,” he says.

The subjects are numerous. But as Bouzzine points out: “In any initiation, you teach your neighbours to have values that are always beautiful – loyalty, goodness, generosity, keeping your word. Because if not, very quickly barbarity returns.” – AFP