Festival 2020

Woka Kuma Festival 2020 @ Oyoun

On 31.10.2020, the 6th edition of the Woka Kuma Festival Art and Culture from Burkina Faso took place in Berlin Oyoun. Under considerable Corona conditions, a festival was put on its feet with a focus on Burkinabe culture and exchange. Woka Kuma Deutschland e.V. in cooperation with Oyoun invited to Oyoun for an evening of discussion, exchange, concert and music!

The programme included a discussion on “The role of cultural actors in peacebuilding” – an exchange of experiences and methods from Burkina Faso and Germany.

Speakers: Isabella Mamatis, artist and cultural worker, chairwoman of the Lange Tafel e.V. association. Through her intergenerational project of the Lange Tafel, she regularly brings people together in Germany but also on an international level, who then deal with a topic in the encounter. The core of the project is above all to recognise commonalities and to get to know each other. http://lange-tafel.com/

Jimas Sanwidi, reggaeman and activist from Burkina Faso. Jimas Sanwidi, himself a musician and artist, began to develop his talents as a painter and musician during his studies of sociology and German language and literature in Bonn in 1997 and has released a total of two successful albums with reggae music and lyrics that also deal critically with life, politics and society. In 2005, he created a children’s CD in cooperation with a Düsseldorf school and a partner organisation from Burkina Faso and is also regularly active as a speaker in educational contexts.

The event was moderated by Zina Eberlein. The event was supported by the Landesstelle für Entwicklungszusammenarbeit.

Asphalt Djelis, the trio takes us into afrofuturistic sounds and sounds, as “children of reconciliation” we experience a journey through music in all its facets through new sensory stimulation.” This year I thought it was especially cool that the music selection was so diverse, I totally enjoyed the modern electronic music, lighting effects and great voice and visuals! ” – Voice from the audience

Afterwards, Burkinabe traditional music was performed by de, FASO ORKESTRA. Having travelled from all the cities of the European diaspora, it only took a few days for the group to get together and put on a great performance of West African music. With balafon, djembé, n’goni: everything was there, making it difficult for the audience not to dance!

With : Petit Solo Diabaté, Massa Démbéle, Daouda Diabaté, Brahima Diabaté, Ekow Alabi Savage, Sam Timer, Special Guest : Jimas Sanwidi

Missed the music? Here is the performance on our Youtube channel

Once again, we would like to thank all the people who were there and took part, and especially all the visitors who were with us at Oyoun!

More info and everything about the 2021 edition on our Facebook Seite