MEDI1TV Afrique : #Chronique_culture du 31/03/2025 - 31/03/2025
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00:00Welcome to MEDIEN TV, and you have just listened, dear viewers, to the latest news of the week.
00:29We are joined by the viewers of the balafon, one of the oldest musical instruments in Mali, which is now on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.
00:40Made by artisans who have passed on their know-how from generation to generation, it is deeply rooted in the musical traditions of the Senufo, Malinke, Boa and Minyanka communities of the Sahel.
00:54This inscription marks an international recognition of the cultural richness shared by Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Indonesia.
01:03The balafon and the kolintang, both made of wood xylophones, symbolize mutual respect, tolerance and promote unity as well as a harmonious life.
01:14This recognition has particularly delighted one of the most famous performers, Suleyman Traoré, known under his stage name Neba Solo, which qualifies this ranking as a dream come true.
01:27I invite you to listen to Suleyman Traoré. He is a Malian balafonist.
01:33In Senufo, the balafon teaches unity. The different axes refer to the boys of the family, starting with the elder, Ze, then Zanga.
01:46Then Ngoro, Nper, Nto and Ngana constitute the descendants of a single man. Therefore, you must speak the same language.
01:56Only your union will give you strength. Once the separation takes place, it is ruin for all of you.
02:03The balafon is also the song of the warrior in the fields. It inspires courage and a spirit of competition among farmers in agricultural work.
02:12It is also used during our weddings, during baptisms, and it is also used as an instrument to accompany the elderly at funerals.
02:21The balafon of the Senufo communities of Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire is a xylophone-type musical instrument.
02:32Its practices and cultural expressions are recognized as a wealth that is part of the immaterial cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO.
02:41The balafon, also called nsegele, is made up of a wooden structure or bamboo on which wooden blades of different lengths and calabashes of different sizes are fixed,
02:53acting as a resonance box for each of the blades. Dotec membranes produced by spiders cover the inside of the pierced calabashes,
03:03allowing different variations to be obtained for the sounds created. The music of the balafon is obtained by using wooden sticks.
03:11Let's listen to Suleyman Traoré, the Malian balafonist.
03:20The balafon is also the song of the warrior in the fields. It inspires courage and a spirit of competition among farmers in agricultural work.
03:29We also use it during our weddings, baptisms, and it is also used as an instrument to accompany the elderly at funerals.
03:38I have received many distinctions only thanks to the balafon. It is up to the instrument and the player to give the instrument its place.
03:46The big task lies with the player of the instrument.
03:51In the Senufo communities, the balafon is present at different times of the collective life, whether it is a celebration, a prayer, an esoteric ritual, or a funeral.
04:06Its music is used to accompany the transmission of the traditions, beliefs, and values of the community.
04:12The Cafibélé, a Senufo subgroup, includes seven types of orchestras that combine the balafon with other instruments depending on the circumstances.
04:20Ethnomusicology is interested in this practice, and analysis in terms of semantics.
04:25Playing the balafon is then considered a dialectical act.
04:29To hold a speech, the message is built on a syllabic basis, as well as its interpretations remain subject to the context.
04:38The traditional airs carrying messages related to the passage of life to death, for example, are considered very old.
04:45There are many variations. Those dedicated to entertainment are more ephemeral and can be created and reinvented over time.
04:53Balafon games are also an opportunity to play rivalries between Senufo villages and to express their cultural singularity.
05:02I invite you to listen to Mando Nanta Goita. He is the former director of the regional museum.
05:10Not only is the balafon an integrator, it promotes social cohesion.
05:21These three factors make the balafon something that promotes the culture of peace and social development.
05:33If all this is united, it allows you to live in peace, harmony and community.
05:41These are the factors that pushed the decision-makers to inscribe the balafon as an instrument or element of an immaterial heritage.
05:57It allows us not only to promote it, it allows us to value it, it allows us to make it more popular, it also allows us to disseminate it and promote it.
06:09Thanks to the inscription of the balafon as an immaterial heritage worldwide, we have these evolving actors in this field who have killed their game of pins.
06:24Thank you dear viewers for your loyalty.
06:27The information continues on our different channels.
06:29Arabian media, African media, Maghreb media and of course on our digital media.
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