Fiery performances are part and parcel of the Oslo World experience
When attending a music festival renowned for keeping its fingers on the pulse, you can expect a few surprises. Such was the case when Oslo World returned for its 26th year. The six-day festival, which ended on Sunday, lived up to its reputation for showcasing the latest sounds from relatively unknown corners of the globe, in addition to hosting seminars on film, art, music and more. Here are four things we learnt:
There were two big no-shows
When an invited artist fails to show up to a festival, it can be an irritant for organisers. But when they are two important guests, it is the stuff of nightmares.
Intriguingly, it wasn’t a total disaster that Liliane Chlela and Mon Laferte couldn’t make it to Oslo World. Their non-appearance added an extra layer of pathos to the festival discussions, which touched on the youth-led civil unrest occurring in the world today.
Chlela, a Lebanese graphic designer and multidisciplinary artist, had to pull out of her November 2 seminar on Arab futurism after she sustained an arm injury last month during the demonstrations in Beirut.
When it came to Laferte, the Chilean folk singer and actress elected to stay home with her family and community as her country experiences large-scale protests against government austerity policies. “It is difficult to sing for you, as Chile is going through difficult times,” she said in a video address beamed to the audience in the opening ceremony of the festival on October 29. “That’s why I came here – to be with my family and also to be here for whatever is missing. And that my voice can be the voice of the people and to be with the people that really need someone to represent them.”
The absence of both Chlela and Laferte highlighted the comforting and inspiring roles artists have always played in societies in flux.
All artists today should heed Bob Marley’s message
When it seems that politicians today are increasingly creating polarised societies, it is up to artists to step up and then heal those divisions. This is the message Hindi Zahra gave to the crowd and fellow musicians in her In Conversation session on October 30. But it can be a tough road, she cautioned.
The Moroccan singer and actress has faced severe criticism for performing in Israel in 2011 and Turkey in 2018 from supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, or BDS, and Kurdish activists respectively. In comments that will surely inflame her critics, Zahra provocatively stated that she does not support any form of cultural boycott, no matter its subject, and went on to question its effectiveness as a method of protest.
“The cultural boycott is like the cancel culture now. It is popular to cancel people when you don’t agree with them,” she said. “I want to build a bridge and have conversation with the good people. If we follow the cultural boycott, we don’t give any options for peace. It is very easy to build a wall because it doesn’t take a lot of architectural skills. It is just one stone over the other, but to be build the bridge you need knowledge and it’s not easy.”
Zahra says her worldview has been shaped by the teachings of Jamaican singer Bob Marley. “He had a universal message for everybody,” she said. “He was talking about a history that can be applicable to all people. I think artists should do it but in their own way.”
N3rdistan are one to watch
Meet your new favourite band. The Moroccan electro duo N3rdistan were a standout at Oslo World, delivering a blistering performance as part of a showcase organised by the Beirut & Beyond music festival.
Based in France and comprising high school friends Walead Ben Selim and Widad Brocos, N3rdistan’s music is a dystopian distillation of the Arab world’s past and future. The electro production is abrasive at best: the synth lines strike your synapses like darts, while the beats heave and shudder.
On top of it all is Ben Selim, who – in the spirit of Rage Against the Machine’s incendiary frontman Zack de la Rocha – raps and sings the politically inspired poetry of Arab greats such as Mahmoud Darwish, Nizar Qabbani and Khalil Gibran.
“When we first started doing music our goal was simply to go to jail and we moved on from that,” Ben Selim told The National before his show. “Our shows are intense because the material demands so. When you are performing the words of Darwish, for example, you don’t do it soft. You go hard and all the way.”
Bombino wants to come to the UAE
A message to the team at New York University Abu Dhabi: Bombino wants to slay your stage. The guitarist from Niger may be an absolute beast when performing live, but if you catch him away from the stage, the man is a gentle soul.
While his intense European tour left little time for press interviews, The National managed to catch up with him in the hotel lobby on the way to the next gig.
“If you invite me, I will come,” he said. “I think I have only flown over the UAE on the plane. The deserts reminded me of home and it made me feel good.”