Our first album 'STOU!' was released in 2019 and we would now like to make a final videoclip for a song that is dear to us, "Kumbuka" (= "Remember").

The song questions our ancestors about the colonial past. It retraces in a chronological way the two periods that marked the Belgian colonization of Congo. The song is meant to be educational, without taboos and calls for a collective awareness!

Genesis and creators of the project

Do you know FAFOUL?

FAFOUL are two 'zinnekes' from Brussels, Gilles and Renaud. Two childhood friends whose paths crossed again in their twenties. Both share a love for music and share the same commitment on a professional level, both being social workers. The idea in 2018, was to create an album together around social issues that move them.

It's after having recorded a 'love song' entitled 'Mon étincelle', that they came up with the idea to produce an album. The idea became more refined and the aim was to have an eclectic, grass-roots and socialy engaged album.

Renaud being multi-instrumentalist, composed & arranged the songs. Gilles having an experience of writing and rapping in the Brussels group Ozmose, wrote and interpreted the lyrics.

The album deals with topics such as gender, migration, capitalism, our relationship to consumption, the situation in Palestine, ... .

Obviously, FAFOUL collaborated with different artists to finalize the songs such as trumpeter Eric Yovogan, violinists Cristian Adriesii and Alexia Sonveau, saxophonist Pieter Eerlings, electric guitarist Augusto Lao Martin and baglama player Harun Özdemir!

Three songs led to a featuring: the group Ozmose for the song "Nunca màs", the Palestinian singer Alaa Shublaq for the song "Pour Mahmoud" and the Belgian-Congolese sisters Anita and Marie Daulne for the song "Kumbuka".

The video-clips that accompanied the songs were entirely self-produced and FAFOUL was able to count on numerous collaborations with committed citizens and militant associations.

For example, "Nunca màs", which deals with the issue of migration, was filmed during the anti-racist demonstration in 2019 in collaboration with the citizen platform in support of refugees, the M.R.A.X., the 21/3 platform, the coordination of undocumented migrants, Nomad's Prod and other artists, activists and citizens committed to the issue such as Alexis Deswaef, Joy Slam, Zakia Khattabi, Zoé Genot, the voice of undocumented migrants, Francine Kouablan,... .

For "Kumbuka", we wanted to take the message further!

The song already counts on the beautiful collaborations of the Belgian-Congolese sisters and artists Anita and Marie Daulne. Two singers ans sisters, engaged for more than 20 years in the fight and the recognition of an Afropean identity, through music.

At the beginning...an intention...

It is, among other things, after a "de-colonial" guided tour organized by collective colonial memory and fight against discrimination in Brussels that we found it important to address this topic in our album.

Indeed, we started from the observation that this period is very badly known by the Belgian population and that, in the need to come to terms with this dark past, it was necessary to go through a duty of memory. Because 'kumbuka', 'remembering', is a first obligatory step towards recognition of what happened!

For without knowledge, don't we risk reproducing the mechanisms that justified this colonial practice in the first place? Isn't it, among other things, the lack of knowledge about the colonial past that, to this day, feeds the racist and imperialist trends again and again?

It is clear that colonial propaganda has allowed to justify and convince this tyrannical project! History has not been restored, but rather has been evangelized, whitewashed in the image of a so-called civilizing work.

It only takes a short walk around certain cities, to observe certain monuments, statues, street names, folk traditions, expressions,... to realize that this past still praises the dominant, while picturing a denigrating image of the so-called 'dominated'.

Getting to know this past better is therefore also a way to become aware, to nuance and to be able to position oneself as a citizen of Belgium and of the world.

Be aware, far from us the will to appropriate or be the protagonists of anti-colonial struggles! This song is an interpellation, an appeal to the awareness of our country, its royalty, its institutions and its citizens to learn about, to recognize, remember and never forget this past, hoping that acts of reparation and deconstruction will continue to follow!

From a song to videoclip...

For the realization of this last videoclip, we wanted to call upon external people, sensitive to the topic and with an experience in the production of videoclips. We are therefore pleased to collaborate with David Marolito as a director and as co-director and cinematographer Pierre Vanneste.

Here, according to our director, is the universe (in french) in which we would like to immerse you through this clip:

"Un chant qui interroge nos ancêtres, dénonce la responsabilité de notre état, de la folie coloniale de la monarchie belge qui fit du Congo son "jardin personnel".
Regarder le passé en face pour construire un avenir commun sans "blanchir" la mémoire. Aimé Césaire nous rappelle à tous que "la colonisation a ensauvagé l'Europe", et la reconstruction de notre humanité passera par le devoir de mémoire et la justice réparatrice.

S'il est nécessaire de déboulonner le roi de sa statue qui trône encore dans les rues de notre ville, il est également vital de faire tomber cet assassin de son cheval dans nos chants, nos danses et nos peintures.

" Travail forcé
Des mains coupées
Des corps violés
D'enfants crucifiés
Totems pillés
Terres exploitées
L'or blanc immaculé
De sang colonisé"

A travers les guerres, les massacres et les pillages, le crime colonial continue d'exister aujourd'hui, dans les mines de coltan du Congo ou les puits de pétrole du delta du Niger.

Ouvrir la boite de Pandore. Faire tomber les masques blancs dans une "boite noire". Mettre en image ce chant pour rompre le tabou noir & blanc.
Faire dialoguer la musique avec la danse afro-contemporaine et la calligraphie urbaine. Ralentir le mouvement pour mieux regarder le geste, pour rendre perceptible l'invisible. Battre du pied dans le sable du temps, honorer les morts et les vivants dans les déserts de nos cités d'or et d'acier. Ciseler des visages et des figures en clair-obscur pour mettre en lumière la dignité du colonisé."

-David Marolito, director of the video clip "Kumbuka"-

Without revealing everything, the clip will thus picture a declamation, dance and urban calligraphy in a black box.

All this, with a dynamic and contemporary post-production.

For more images: moodboard Kumbuka

Why support us?

Help us to finalize this latest project in the FAFOUL saga! Support us in the making of our video! It's also a way to show that you care! You will find all the counter-parts on this page but feel free to contribute or share this call for support in your network and on social media, that is another way to participate in the project!

Please note that if we exceed the expected amount, not only will we be able to properly pay the people involved (and we all know that professionals in the cultural sector have suffered in recent times ...) but we will also be able to make a generous donation to the organization "colonial memory and fight against discrimination" which do a great job of awareness and interpellation on this issue!

To your piggy banks and a big THANK YOU!

FAFOUL

Support the production of the videoclip 'Kumbuka' by FAFOUL!

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