This April it’s been exactly 30 years since the Rwandan Genocide: a civil war often shortlisted as one of the most brutal in history. The presentation of my tape piece Anosmia at Worm, on April 5th, is my contribution to this year’s worldwide commemoration in the Afro Diaspora.
“I still remember how, on April 7th 1994, an ordinary Thursday morning in Bruges, Belgium, I was walking down the stairs, just on my way out to school, when one of my parents approached me… Too much in total shock themselves to spare me any details. As a 14 year old I instantly wished I had nothing to do with Rwanda at all. Now, so many years later, obviously things have changed. I came to a point where I could no longer avoid that subject in my art. And that’s how I came to make Anosmia: a ca. 45 minute long radiophonic composition in which I reflect on the subject from a poetic and artistic point of view.”
Anosmia is an abstract reflection zooming in on the absurd fact that a tiny part of the body, the nose, played a key role in the Rwandan Genocide.
- Click here for more info about Anosmia
- Read here Aurélie’s interview about the making of Anosmia on Navelgazers (London)
When talking or thinking about Rwanda one can not ignore the events of April 1994. That history should never be forgotten, because it is never completely behind us…
Yet Rwanda is so much more: that is why I invite everyone to reflect on the past, ánd look ahead at what exceptional and positive things are happening now in Rwanda and East Africa, and elsewhere in the African diaspora.
The presentation at Worm marks the Rotterdam premiere of Anosmia, and my ultimate favorite bookshop vanGennep will for that occasion curate a suitable book table, a.o. showcasing a rich representation of the careful balance and impressive reconstruction in Rwanda.
