23 Sep 2024

Music remains a powerful force of unity that transcends language barrier, cultural difference and personal backgrounds to create a universal language for diverse expression.

This was exemplified by the Orange Fête de la Musique, a dynamic music festival held in Gaborone on Saturday, courtesy of Alliance Française in partnership with Orange Botswana.

The event brought together local artistes to share the stage for a vivid celebration and fusion of music. They included the likes of Katlego Ntirang alias Dato Seiko, Ubuntu band, DJs FME and Raptured Roots and a group of Mogoditshane Senior Secondary School French learners as well as Nirere Shanel from Rwanda.

Kick starting the event with a captivating performance was Mogoditshane SSS learners with two songs, Champs Elysee and Lelion est mort ce soir, a translation of the Lion Sleeps Tonight, one of the songs from the Lion King movie.

Their gestures while playing the saxophone, bass guitar, drums and keyboard for both songs in French defined the tone for the evening that attendees enthusiastically received.

The Wow hit maker, Dato Seiko also managed to take the crowd to the peak and effortlessly kept up to their expectations.

She performed varied tracks that spoke to the soul, and resonated well with a diverse audience who thronged the Alliance Française Gaborone for the event. Not only did she spark joy but she also unleashed creativity, an essence that had set her apart and made her win hearts of many music enthusiasts since her groundbreaking into the industry.

Shanel also threw in a shower of sparks as she performed afro folk tracks including Atura, Ndabaza Sindega, Uzaze and Malaika, among others.

Atura composed and sang in Kinyarwanda, one of the official language in Rwanda is a plea to stop gender-based violence acts that had taken a toll in some of the African countries. The song also encourages GBV victims to break the silence and speak up.

The song, Ndabaza Sindega also in Kinyarwanda translates to ‘I am not accusing, I am asking’ interrogates some languages that diminished and subjugated women.

It created a dialogue to delve deeper beneath superficial meanings, shedding light on dual nature of some words that seem sweet to use yet carry a burden of oppression and underlying connotations.

In an interview, Shanel stated that music was a beacon of hope and every note played and lyrics sang had the potential to bring people together despite language and cultural differences.

“Through music, people are reminded of shared humanity, and a connection that brings diverse societies together,” she said.

Alliance Française Gaborone director, Angelique Saverino said since the inception of the Fête de la Musique in 1982, the annual event had transcended and reached out to artists in more than 120 countries across the world.

She said the event had become a platform that united artists from different backgrounds, promoted creativity and created opportunities for possible collaboration, exposure and for growth. ENDS