Odysseys

Odyssey n°5 : What are they saying ?

In partnership with the Théâtre du Nord, Samira El Ayachi and non-profit
organisations and hostels in Lille : Foyer Thiriez, Abri-Solfa, la CLE,
Perspectives and Mademoiselle S.
With the voices of Wivine Anunga, Meriem Boudalia, Widad Boulfoul, Lawrence
Ever, Samira Kerbiche, Fedosa Laafou, Mimy Mazeba, Fadoua Laafou,
Poupette Mbembo, Fatiha Mifak, Mina Naessens, Blandine Nzolani,
Patricia Ogbuka, Souad Medjoub, Laurence Preux, Sabine Ringot,
Najat Ben Abdelkader, Rahma Fettouk, Aziza Bordji, Peggy Leman
Concert performed on april 6 2017

“We met every afternoon.
There was Julie too, recording.
In a corner was Samira, listening, overseeing.
I told them about the Odyssey, described a journey with its 13 adventures.
I played, accompanied by the soundtrack.
As soon as they heard the first murmurs of the city,the first rolls of the waves,
the first husky sounds of the cello; the first song, they answered me.
Singing in turn,
Powerful voices rose, filling the room, with its parquet floor, where we had met,
seated in a ring in the evening light.
Till we no longer knew where we were.
Singing together or alone.
Fragments of prayer, surahs, gospel emerged from the wind,
as though returning from a distant place.
The languages of childhood resonated softly, echoing the Lullaby I played for them,
to the slow rhythm of a heartbeat,
poems,
stories of their home countries.
And lots of laughter.
Samira El Ayachi’s protective eyes twinkled. We were free.”

SAMIRA EL AYACHI
Born in the north of France, Samira El Ayachi writes about intimacy. In her work as a performance artist, she records people that she meets, creating forms in which their speech intertwines with her own writing, becoming part of the live show. In Lille, she founded the non-profit organisation Mademoiselle S. and a literary festival of a new kind l’Origine des Mondes, creating opportunities for intimate meetings between writers and local residents. Mademoiselle S. shares the idea that literature is a tool for social development and sustainable imagination and that, as such, it can draw its creativity from any territory, including outlying neighbourhoods to which it must give something back. To do this, she invites authors to meet new nomadic readers, men and women who are sometimes intimidated, but who will form the bedrock for the readership of tomorrow.

 

Photo credits : S. Gosselin