This was my second time in Rwanda, I found it a landscape transformed by the pageants of the commemoration, everywhere everyone and everything was swathed in purple. Roadside gacaca courts greeted me on all sides while driving between various points in the country.....
Rwanda, and the great lakes region of Africa in general, is stunningly beautiful. Infinite hills rolling off into dramatic skyscapes. Torrential rainstorms turning everything green against gray. On this journey I had the opportunity to venture farther afield, out of Kigali, and into the countryside. My first impression of Kigali, when I first visited it last year was slightly negative. It has the feeling, in many ways, of being occupied territory. There is a large international aid worker presence, which leaves a strong mark on the phsyco-geography of the place, and serves(at least to me) as an unpleasant reminder of the total failure of the international community to prevent(or even care about) the 1994 genocide. Residents proudly refer to it as either the "Singapore of Africa" or the "Switzerland of Africa" and on first blush it lacks the anarchic energy I've become used to in large african cities. But on this trip I had the time to let the energy of the place take hold of me and I grew to love the calm, gentle, relaxed pace of the city and the ease and quiet of its people. Rwandans are some of the quietest people who's voices I've ever recorded....
This weeks show, downloadable here, features edits of field recordings I made at the commemoration ceremony, as well as new music I obtained on a day trip to the DRC. More on that
No comments:
Post a Comment