💥Our “Planting the Seeds” research & development project has come to an end, and we thought we’d go out with a bang! 💥 Our ambitious closing experiment was a digital collaboration undertaken in September 2021 featuring artists in Wales, France, and Guinea that resulted in this stunning track and video. 💥
🎶 A song started in Cardiff (Wales), skipped across to Toulouse, Angoulême, and Normandy in France, before making the long trip to Conakry (Guinea), and eventually winding its way back to Wales as a patchwork to be sewn together under the watchful gaze of our Artistic Director, N’famady Kouyate 🎬
Thanks and kudos go to all the contributors to this amazing work! 🎉
Team Guinea 🇬🇳
Fatoumata Kouyaté Djéliguinet – vocals, Thiany Sylla – sound engineer, Mohamed Sosso Camara – filming, Aïcha Sylla – filming Sounounou Sidibé – filming
Team France 🇫🇷
Oumar Camara Livio – balafon, Mohamed Nafy Kouyaté – bass guitar and sangban, Diarra Oua-Anou – tama and flute, Lansanna Camara Sagatala – djembe, Ousmane Kouyaté – doundoun and vocals, Mabinty Chantal Kouyaté – kenkeni, Aboubacar Focky-Koita – kenkeni, Guillaume Simonet – sound engineer, Léo Thévenin – filming, Emilie Lebaudy – project administration
Team Wales 🏴
Kouyate N’famady – balafon, Daniel West – drumkit, Suntou Susso – kora, Rob Nichols – guitar, Joel Beswick – sound engineer, Kliph Scurlock – final mixing, Tim Short – filming and editing, Cathryn Haulwen McShane-Kouyaté – project management
This was a unique collaboration led by The Successors of the Mandingue as part our Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru | Arts Council of Wales #ConnectandFlourish project in partnership with Association Kobenawati, Butetown Arts and Culture Association (BACA) , Oumar Almamy Camara, and Neuadd Ogwen, Bethesda.
For more information about our full Connect and Flourish development phase project see: https://successors.co.uk/book-us/projects/planting-the-seeds/