Liberating Music

A Presentation of Ethnic Musical Instruments at St. James Cavalier

On Monday, 5 November, 2001, Marguerite Agius, a member of the cooperative that runs the fair trade shop L-Arka, will be presenting a number of fair-traded ethnic musical instruments at St. James Cavalier in Valletta at 8.00pm. Entrance is free and the general public is cordially invited to attend.

This presentation is linked to the drum circle workshops led by percussionist Renzo Spiteri as part of the one-year “Ritmi” project organised by the Third World Group. Marguerite Agius will be talking in brief ethnic instruments like the djembe, tabla, rain stick, flute, the African xylophone and anklung and about the communities in the poor regions of the world where they are produced.

 Music, Culture and Fair Trade

In September Marguerite Agius, a founding member of the local fair trade cooperative of volunteers, Koperattiva Kummerc Gust, took part in a two-day workshop on fair-traded musical instruments held in Verona. The theme of the meeting was “La Musica Verso Liberi e Nuovi Suoni: Storie, Suggestioni e Strumenti Musicali dal Sud del Mondo” (Music Heading towards Free and New Sounds: Stories, Inspiration and Musical Instruments from the South of the World). The meeting was organised by CTM-Altromercato, the largest fair trade organisation in Italy that brings together more than 100 world (or fair trade) shops throughout Italy.

 The Maltese cooperative is the only non-Italian member of this organisation. CTM-Altromercato distributes more than 100 different musical instruments from around the world through its network of shops. These instruments include Indian tablas, African djembes, Indonesian anklungs, Mexican maracas, Peruvian flutes, and Chilean rain sticks and wood-blocks. All these instruments are imported locally by L-Arka, which is run by the only fair trade organisation in Malta.

CTM-Altromercato organises regular information sessions on the fair-traded products it distributes and members like Koperattiva Kummerc Gust are automatically invited to attend. The Verona information forum, or “inforum”, was held to inform fair traders about the cooperatives in the poorer regions of the world that produce the fair-traded ethnic musical instruments that one finds in shops like L-Arka.

The meeting focused on the instruments themselves, how they are played and the cultures that produce them. Another important element that was tackled was how these instruments can be used to educate children and young people about cultural diversity, North-South issues and the concept of fair trade itself.

Two of the those who spoke at the workshop are managers of cooperatives producing high-quality musical instruments in Cameroon and Chile. The manager of the Cameroonian cooperative explained how the price is agreed upon by the producers and the international fair trade organisations like CTM-Altromercato. 80% of the instruments manufactured by this particular cooperative are sold in Europe and therefore the livelihood of whole communities in Cameroon depends on these sales. This Cameroonian cooperative from which L-Arka buys many of its ethnic instruments has a strict programme of reforestation to ensure that its thriving economic activity (it now provides work for 800 workers compared to 200 workers 30 years ago when it began) does not jeopardize the future of the local environment and that of future generations.

Sustainability and Role of Education

 Environmental sustainability is high on the agenda of the fair trade movement. Valeria Calamaro, who was in Malta for meetings with the local fair trade cooperative in March 2001 and was present at the Verona “Inforum” on musical instruments, talked about the reforestation programme of the Mikono Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. This centre promotes the products of refugee artisans and is linked to L-Arka. In 1999, L-Arka imported a large number of sculptures and other high-quality products for an African Week organised mainly at the University by the Third World Group. These products, especially the carvings in ebony, were very-well received.

In her presentation at the Verona meeting, Valeria Calamaro, who works in the communications department of CTM-Altromercato, gave a slide presentation about the drum-making process in various African countries, focusing mainly on the drums produced in the city of Machakos, Kenya.

Another speaker was journalist and writer Elisabetta Tosi, whose publications include the book La kora e il sax. Forme e protagonisti della musica africana moderna (Emi, 1990). In her presentation at the Verona meeting, “Ho l’Africa nelle orecchie: viaggio tra i suoni e i controsuoni del continente africano tra tradizione e modernità” (There’s Africa in my ears: a journey through the traditional and modern sounds and countersounds of the African continent). Elisabetta Tosi spoke at length about contemporary African music and described it as full of life, articulate and complex.

Marcello Lorrai, a journalist working with Radio Popolare, Il Manifesto, Musica Jazz and Nigrizia, and co-author of the book La Battaglia del Rai (Zelig, 1988) with Chawki Senouci, discussed the social and cultural dimension of world music today. In his presentation called “Percorrere le musiche, percorrere le culture: per suonarle ai soprusi, alle intolleranze, alle ingiustizie in tutto il mondo”, Lorrai spoke about the liberating role of world music for the cultures of many oppressed peoples of the world. This theme was also taken up by Juan Saavedra, a Bolivian-born fair trader and member of the ethnic music band Rio Colorè. In his presentation called “Ci piace latino: il Sudamerica dei liberi suoni”, Saavedra talked about the “free sounds” of South America. He also played the various instruments he referred to in his talk and described their role in their native cultures.

Being an educator herself, with years of experience as a teacher at primary level, Marguerite Agius found Oliveiro Biella’s presentation about teaching the world’s cultures through music (“La musica insegna le culture del mondo: l’esperienza nelle scuole”) particularly interesting. This was a practical session in which Oliveiro Biella, a musician and educator himself, showed Marguerite Agius and the other participants how to use these instruments in class.

The Story behind Each Instrument

At the Verona Inforum, CTM-Altromercato also presented an information pack about the cooperatives in Africa, South America and Asia that produce these musical instruments. The pack includes a book with contributions on issues relating to fair trade and world music by the experts who made presentations at the inforum. The pack also includes 32 individual information cards each describing in detail the origin, use and role of the various instruments within the communities that produce them. The cards also give detailed information about the various cooperatives that produce these ethnic instruments and the challenges they are facing today. This pack will be used by Koperattiva Kummerc Gust to promote knowledge about the instruments and the cultures that produce them and about the concept and effectiveness of fair trade. Marguerite Agius will be making extensive use of them in her presentation at St. James Cavalier on Monday, 5 November.

The person who edited these information cards on the ethnic musical instruments from Africa, Asia and Latin America is Marco Moiola. Moiola is a member of the team that selects the instruments for CTM-Altromercato. He was born in Bolzano and now lives in Verona, but he has travelled all over the world, especially in Africa. He has a passion for music and for instruments as “speaking objects” (what he calls “oggetti parlanti”) that are there “to be discovered and to help discover”.

Apart from being a member of CTM-Altromercato, Koperattiva Kummerc Gust is a member of APEX, the assocation of Maltese cooperatives; Etimos, an Italian organisation working in the field of ethical finance; and IFAT, the International Federation of Alternative Trade.

The presentation by Marguerite Agius at St. James Cavalier is being organised by the Third World Group and L-Arka with the collaboration of Renzo Spiteri and the support of the management of the St. James Cavalier  Centre for Creativity.

For more information about this and other activities within the Ritmi project, log on to http://ritmi2002.cjb.net (email ritmi@mail.com) or phone L-Arka on tel. 244865.

Adrian Grima

(Coordinator, “Ritmi”)

October, 2001

The "anklung" is supplied by a Javanese organisation made up of many different cultural and religious groups. This project involves something like 2000 people who depend entirely on their craftsmanship for their livelihood.

The "calebassa" made from pumpkin.

The fascinating "ektara" made of wood is made India by an organisation of women that coordinates the production of crafts by over fifty groups and about fifteen village communities.

Bamboo rain sticks are made in Mexico and cactus rain sticks are made in Chile.

These wood-blocks are made in Chile by an organisation that brings together a number of small artisans who would otherwise be exploited by the unfair market prices.

This tabla is made in India. The tabla is said to have been introduced, together with the sitar, by the poet and musician Amir Kushrow towards the end of the year 1200.

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