Making music to find an identity
By Akech Manyiel, yarraReporter.org.au Photo - Asiah by Andrew Wuttke
Contemporary music is being used as a tool for young Sudanese artists to help find their identity and challenge the past.
Manyang Beriberi, one of the organisers of the Sudanese Talent Show that happens in Melbourne every December says that “The young artists sing in English, they break from their older counterparts who predominantly sing in Sudanese languages such as Arabic juba, Dinka and Nuer. They have embraced the modern music and use their cultural background to express themselves”
Many of them fled from Sudan with their families due to the civil war that engulfed the country for over 2 decades. They formed music bands to express their thoughts. Bands such as Sudaboys, Revolution, City Noise, TLD AMCs, Mackz and solo artists such as Bang, Dadi-dy and Mismusic are quite known amongst Sudanese community. Their adoption to the contemporary genre of music is sometimes criticised for forgetting the past.
“Many young Sudanese who grew up here lost their identity as Sudanese. They are into American rap music and their lyrics often have no substance” said DJ MG or Manga’r Chuot, one of the well known Sudanese musicians.
Their upbringing and understanding of music is quite different from the Sudanese older generation of artists, who had to endure hardship which denied their talents because the Sudanese Government bans artists from expressing their thoughts and criticism.
Plath Diar is one these artists who experienced such treatment. He survived and escaped from trauma that was caused by the war through music. “I never stopped performing; I was often in conditions of extreme danger. (To me) music was an escape from bad things that the war has created. Artists and performers in south Sudan showed the same determination; they are local heroes there, and deserve to be recognized” said Diar.
Diar’s talent was recognized as early as when he was 2 years old. He practiced singing at home, school and in the church. He was placed as a runner up at the age of 17 in a national Arabic singing contest that is equivalent of Australian Idol. He was the first southern Sudanese to win this prestigious singing contest. Instead of gaining fame, the victory brought him into misery. It changed his entire life.
For this achievement, he was given a house by the government, but he had to change his identity: changing his name and religion. Shocked by what he got himself into and concerned with his life and family safety, he left for Khartoum, the capital. Here he was forcefully recruited into the army and threatened to be dispatched to southern Sudan to fight other southerners. His love of music and Dinka, the southerners’ vernacular, made him escape from the military camp.
“I fled the military training camp during Ramadan holiday break, I came home and packed my stuff and headed to the border where I crossed to Egypt” he said.
Such a story is quite familiar with Sudanese
older artists. After living in Egypt for 4 years, he finally arrived in Australia in Dec 2002. He gradually recovered from years of hardship; it took him 4 years before he could play music again.
“I had to work to support my family here in Australia and in the Sudan. Any chance of me ever playing music again was remote” Diar said.
Bec Reid, one of the artists of the Footscray Arts Centre says, “When we talked with Diar, we realized that there is a need for a centre to help members of the Sudanese community. Now the centre offers them a safe cultural place to develop as strong performing artists.”
To help other Sudanese artists, Diar with the help of Footscray Arts Centre formed the Sudanese Artist Association that aims to provide a network for Sudanese artists with organisations in the music industry.
“We offer members of the association professional development opportunities and chances beyond music which are out there, it just a matter of knowing how to look for them” said Reid.
Although there is a section of young Sudanese artists who totally embrace contemporary music and forget about their past, there are Sudanese young artists with a fresh memory about what they and their families went through in Sudan. One of them is Joshua who uses music as a medium to reach an understanding about the effect of war on the population in Sudan.
“He expresses his angst about the war situation through his songs. The lyrics of his songs often point out about the cancerous effects of war. He also talks about suffering that is experienced by Southern Sudanese children” said Beriberi.
Such songs help raise awareness about the effect of war in the community; and the “Sudanese Talent Show” helps to forge a Southern Sudanese identity. Such is another aim of Sudanese Arts Association, as Diar said. “(Being in Australia) is an opportunity for me and other Southerners to create a music identity. Our culture has been denied; Sudan culture is synonymous with Northern Sudanese Arabs”.
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