MADAGASCAN SINGER AND MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST TO PERFORM AT THE RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL

Date: 02 May 2006
Written By: Yeoh Jun-Lin

His name is Randrianantoandro Clément.

But on stage, he is known as KILEMA and he will be here in Kuching, Sarawak to bring some soulful vocals and agile instrumental music from Madagascar to the 9th Rainforest World Music Festival.

Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean, just off southern Africa, east of Mozambique. It went from being an independent kingdom to being a French colony in 1896, and then independent again in 1960.

So French is widely spoken there as well as Malagasy.

The inhabitants of Madagascar did not come from Africa or the Sahara, but from the regions around South East Asia, especially the chain of Indonesian islands, and Polynesia. They are believed to have migrated over around the 3rd century. So despite the proximity to Africa, Madagascan roots are more akin to the cultures that surround the Indian Ocean.

KILEMA plays just about every instrument there is, but he excels at the marovany which is a zither – a wooden box with a set of strings on either side, particularly common in South Madagascar. It can produce the most wonderful delicate trickles of sound. Also the kabosy, a small 4-6 stringed guitar which contributes agile and frantic rhythmic patterns so characteristic of the traditional music found on the island.

This will not be the first time a Madagascan band comes to the Rainforest World Music Festival. In the past, well loved bands like Tarika, Regis Gizavo and the one-armed Rajery has come in with their music.

Tickets for the festival are available at all the Visitor Information Centres in Kuching, Miri and Sibu. These are priced at RM60 per person for a day which will give access to the daytime workshops as well as the evening shows. Children between 3 – 12 years old can get tickets at RM30 a day.

The Sarawak Tourism Board is proud to be the owners of this festival as they have nursed it up since its birth in 1998. This will be the 9th year of the festival. Support also comes from the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia Airlines who is the Official Airlines, and the UK based fROOTS magazine on world music who is the media sponsor the second year running. The official telco for the festival is DIGI and supporting sponsors are Heineken and Water Genesis.

The venue for this year’s festival is at the Sarawak Cultural Village where the workshops will be held at some of the longhouses as well as in the theatre. There has been an open air area cleared specially for the festival’s nightly shows.

An average of 6 bands will be performing each night. They come, in true RWMF tradition, from all corners of the globe – all of them as different from the next one as can be. For the audience, it should be like a culture shock at every change over of acts.

There will also be RWMF merchandise for sale at the festival, alongside food, drink and handicraft stalls.

The Rainforest World Music Festival has just won the PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) gold award 2006 in the Heritage and Culture category. PATA, the leading US-based travel industry, will be officially presenting  31 gold awards at the 55th annual conference in Pattaya, Thailand from 23rd – 27th April this year.

KILEMA will be easily recognized at the festival, with his long dreadlocks and infectious smile. And of course, the gentle swaying, the warm harmonies, the rich textures, in the music of his people.

Yeoh Jun-Lin
Artistic Director
Rainforest World Music Festival