« Special Return to the Origins»

with Nkelo Wa Kongo from Guadeloupe

press 1994

The fourth edition was inaugurated in Ntsila Mamba, towards Nganga-lingolo, a Brazzaville’s suburb.
The choice of this site was not casual: here the caravan route that connects Nzadia  Mungwa  (the sea) with Nzadia Kongo (Kongo river) passes.
This edition knew the participation of guadeloupeans and zairoises. In the heart of this big ceremony three brave guys, Louya Mpene Malela, Massengo Ma Mbongolo e Tshivili Tshibulu had no other resource than that of their art e their granitic will, in a quite unconstrained dynamics: that of gather men of culture from all horizons around a memory, that of their Ancesters e land.
This was enough to make their gaiety cries heard up to over the Atlantic.

In short, this edition knew the participation of guadaloupeans artists as:  Jocelyn Gabali, Bébé Romspart, Mpemba  « Benzo », and  Marie France Massembo.

In the festival menu were theatre, plastic operas exhibitions, poetry, story telling, singing, theorical and scientific debates and above all… traditional dance. Different tam-tam sounds were heard: those from Kongo but also and especially the far off sounds of kongo drums and singing from Guadeloupe, enriched by the diaspora culture clash.

It was the perfect kermesse, as to abstract that hard civil war time that we were living, the tough time of Cfa franc devaluation.
And the audience, especially children, had flowed to come to this ancestral sanctuary and draw the necessary energy that would, tomorrow, make them become the Bukongo Kongo culture singers. A nowday plural culture because enriched by the emotions and humours from all our country’s regions and from the far off experience of all those who claim their Kongo roots.

One of the most important moments was the festival descent to the Massembo Loubaki train station, on the iron Congo-ocean road to satisfy and give honour to the guadeloupeans Marie France Massembo. She cared very much about seeing her ancesters’ village, and deeply lived this moment of happy reunion among tears. Then a rumbling of drum thunders accompanied “the prodigal daughter” arrived from the far off Guadeloupe to rejoin her “parents” remained in Africa. Gabali found again the Ngabali village and stream, as Benzo Mpemba found agin his Luango.

The fourth edition already revealed itselfas “the faithful translator of our ancestors thought who are close to the already moving diaspora”.

Since then, the bond between Africa and its prodigal children was renewed. Appointments were taken in Africa as in the Antilles, to get the Kongo puzzle rejoined. And a door for the Return to the Origins was opened, a real one, without any colonial or extraversion form’s heaviness.

9th edition

MALAKI’s mistery

Malaki ma Kongo 1999

MALAKI MA KONGO  nineth edition was managed by master Nzambia Mpungu’s (God in kikongo language) hands, on a granades, helicopters hammering bombardaments jazz background, all this accompanied by a kalaschnikovian rythm.

The “Malaki challenges Nzambia Mpungu” was held without our knowledge, even though we actively participated in it. And it was in november when we effectively realized that during those 10 war months – entrenched in the forest, far away from all the civilizing heaviness – we drunk, danced, fished, hunted, reflected, buried our deads, took care of ourselves and walked… we played shows series as our Ancestors used to, in starred nights around a big camp fire. Continue reading →

5th edition :

Malaki’s Confirmation

press 1995

Held in Brazzaville from july 10th to 16th, the fifth edition corresponded to a concentrated analyses of the five years long festival life. The artistic dimension rivaled the scientific dimension: ten conferences for twelve shows alternatively held at CFRAD (Drama Art Research and Formation Center) and at the cultural center Sony LABU TANSI.
The conferences various themes put the accent on mentality reconversion. Among the interventions, E. NGAMPAKA, Nzey Van MUSALA and MASENGO MA MBONGOLO insisted on taking into account the cultural dimension inside the whole development and improvement of the North-South exchanges project. The novelty arrived from the para-cultural activities.

Sa-ra SAMBA took pains to remind theorically and practically the Box of Pharaons. And from there he continued through his researches about establishing the similarities between the Box of Pharaons and Kongo boxing.
Right after, G. Batekisa informed us on his researches evolution about “lemon therapy of Tembe lemon”. From these lemons, he assured, it’s possible to cure around 50 deseases: from malaria to snake bites and… at a low cost.
Among others, the “Open door to thunderboltology” by Itous Ibara who affirmed that a thunderbolt is: life’s alpha and omega; who says thunderbolt says fire – he continued – and fire doesn’t hurt anybody as long as they respect Nature’s laws.

This manifestation revelation, however, was gouanga Nkunku wa Madami, a Kongo intellectual in the real meaning of the term, historian, linguist, philosopher and medical doctor. In 60 minutes and in a pure, scientific and accademic Lari (ancient african language) he exposed the «mbutukulu ku Kongo Dia Ntotela» theme, the “birth planification in Kongo”.

The third wave leader was KUVUAMA, who exposed the matsuanist culture. The audience, which had attentively followed the conference, remained with its thirst of knowing if yes or not, MATSUA had been in the living or deads realm?

From South Africa MWASI MOSI arrived, exposing on the theme: The fight against mental alienation politics for Black youth in South Africa.
After demonstrating linguistic similarities between south african languages and kikongo, he launched the message he had taken with him from MANDELA’s country:

“a man who’s lost his culture is like a man without spine, never his economy or ideas will be able to be realized…”

On the artistic level three nice theatre representations followed each other: C.U. Marabout théâtre of Zaïre with Oluwemi d’Adjumako by Maryse Konde,  Kulu Nsi of Pointe Noire dance with Ngoualouba Kingdom by Bernard Milongo,  Kongo Dia Ntotela with Erba Bassa by  Masengo Ma Mbongolo,  Don Bosco théâtre amazed us with Matsua Process byCôme Mankasa ,Tropics Theatre also was present  with Grosso Modo by Fréderic Pambou, without forgetting the mini championship of the Box of Pharaons, Ballet Théâtre Monana and the traditional games around the big camp fire which reminded us life at the time of our Ancestors.