Viva Lewes Issue #152 May 2019

ON THIS MONTH: BRIGHTON FESTIVAL
Rokia Traoré’s
Brighton Festival
How and why to stay curious
Rokia Traoré is the inspiring Malian singersongwriter
and musician at the creative helm of
this year’s Brighton Festival. It was hearing her
speak at the Festival launch that inspired us to
choose ‘Curiosity’ as our overall theme for this,
May, issue. And I felt privileged to speak to her
over the phone from Mali in the Viva office one
Monday morning.
I started by asking how she believes curiosity
can be key to making this world work: can we be
curious about each other, rather than fearful?
She’s compelling on the subject. “Between
people from different cultures, but also between
people who are friends, or members of the same
family, we mustn’t be afraid. We must recognise
that fear is a first, natural, human response. And
we must learn to keep calm in all situations,
to remain curious about what it is the person
in front of you is trying to express. Why does a
person look angry all the time?”
She talked about keeping calm through that
initial heat; discovering what we have in
common; and then, beyond that, seeing what is
different – and how beautiful that diversity is.
“We must be careful”, she said. “Nothing’s
simple in this world, or black and white. What
you see or hear, so often the opposite is actually
true. Take time. Have an open, clear mind.”
Rokia values stories, and her work does not shy
away from terrible realities. “Huge mistakes
have been made,” she says; “how do we learn
from them?” But it’s also clear that remaining
‘open to hope’ matters. “Yes”, she says, “we need
to acknowledge when something terrible has
occurred, and reparation needs making to those
who were subject to it. But we are all capable
of good and bad. In the history of the world,
all nations have done great good, and terrible
harm. What we need is to be curious about
what happened where, and how it came to be a
problem. How can we make this world work the
best it can be? It will never be perfect, and none
of it’s easy.”
Art and culture have a huge part to play, Rokia
believes. “This is my dream for Africa too –
and in setting up the Foundation [Foundation
Passerelle]. It’s very hard, without funding,
to support artists to produce work that isn’t
just about making money, but has true artistic
integrity. But it’s such important, rewarding
work. Artists have this ability to put into words
– or show back – an experience other people
have been having all along but been unable to
express. And our ability to collaborate is also
vital. We are not alone in this world, though we
are alone in our minds and bodies. We have to
learn to open our minds to each other.
“I hope people will have good moments at this
year’s festival, but also instructive moments. I
want to give audiences things to think about. It’s
perhaps the most amazing way of all to learn – to
travel in the mind through art.” Charlotte Gann
4th-26th May. brightonfestival.org
Photo © Danny Willems
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