tutelary figure
In October 2020, the End SARS movement calling for the disbandment of a particularly violent Nigerian police unit took social media by storm. Less than a week later, it spread to the streets of Lagos, then to other cities in the country, carried by a youth largely claiming the heritage of Fela Kuti.
Died in 1997, the emblematic musician of Nigeria still shines with his aura. His rebellious political discourse and his fierce fight against local authoritarianism have made him a tutelary figure in Africa, a rebel who, of course, is divisive, but whose music is still very much alive.
Twenty-five years after his death, the Philharmonie de Paris devotes to Fela Kuti a monographic exhibition, subtitled Rebellion Afrobeatthe first for an African artist.
One of the murals dedicated to Fela, in the Ikeja district of Lagos, 2022. Photo credit: Andrew Esiebo.
“Fela seemed to be the personality to include in the great series of exhibitions devoted to Miles Davis, David Bowie or even Barbara”, explains Alexandre Girard-Muscagorry, one of the three exhibition curators. “We wanted to show all the complexity of his life, of his musical work, but also of his political work.
Tradition, modernity and spirituality
At Fela Kuti, all these axes are intimately linked to each other, inextricable. From 1960 to the end of his life, he never stopped seeking the musical balance between tradition, modernity and spirituality, which would allow him to convey his revolutionary message as powerfully as possible. Everything he attempted was thoughtful and logical, serving one and the same cause.
The exhibition at the Philharmonie constantly brings all these entities into dialogue. “By highlighting music, we highlight politics, and vice versa”, adds Mathilde Thibault-Starzyk, also exhibition curator.
“When he went to the United States at the end of the 1960s, he was looking for his own style. He wondered what ‘African music’ was, what Americans meant by that term. It is through this quest for identity that he turned to polyrhythms, to sounds specific to what would later become his musical brand: Afrobeat.
Fela posing with his trumpet, 1966. Photo credit: Tola Odukoya.
Briefs and ritual concerts
Beyond the music, it is a whole imagery that Fela has created, a syncretism cut for display, felt in the many album covers or clothing presented.
“Everything is always conducive to the disclosure of a message”, continues Mathilde Thibault-Starzyk. “It was difficult to limit ourselves as there were so many interesting objects. We present twenty-four costumes because in a way, they summarize all the issues of the subject. We feel the traditional influences, but also those of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, of the 1970s with these shovel-a-pie collars or the endless bell-bottom pants. This syncretism symbolizes the message of Afrobeat.”
Behind the scenes at the Shrine, 1978. Photo credit: Adrian Boot Urbanimage TV.
The musician paid a heavy price for his commitments. Prison, wounds, this violence is tackled in the exhibition even in totally unexpected corners.
“We notably made a selection of Fela’s briefs that we found in his room”, says Alexandre Girard-Muscagorry. “It was his garment par excellence, which he wore in private. It was also an extension of his political project because by putting on his underpants he showed the scars he had on his body, which were the result of the attacks he had suffered from the army and of the Nigerian Police.”
Political commitment
And of course there is the music. The exhibition Fela Anikulapo-Kuti: Afrobeat Rebellion immerses the visitor in the endless pieces of Fela Kuti, these long digressions from groove, close to trance, which were his sound mark. Shown are excerpts from his concert at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1978, which he performed with his then band, Africa 70.
Fela worn by his supporters at the launch of the Movement of People (MOP), November 1978. Photo credit: Jacqueline Grandchamp-Thiam collection.
One also finds there these curious articles which he published in the advertising inserts of newspapers. “It’s called the Chief Priest Said”, explains Alexandre Girard-Muscagorry. “Amid advertisements for fans or cars, he communicated about parties he hosted at his Lagos club, the Shrine, and delivered messages in pidgin against government policy. We present more than fifty of them in a large graphic installation. It is a frank, lively look.
Like Fela Kuti and the memory he bequeathed.
Illustration photo: Fela at the Shrine in 1977 – Photo credit: Jean-Jacques Mandel.
At the Philharmonie de Paris, Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat resounds as loudly as his political message