2024-02-06 09:56:20
« Bi Kidude? We mightn’t take this woman lightly! » exclaims Maryam “Mim” Suleiman, metallurgy teacher turned musician, when we talk to her regarding Bi Kidude: this legendary Zanzibari artist who died in 2013, and who was still performing when she was 100 years old.
Who says Kidude necessarily says taarab, this mixture of Tanzanian music, poetry from East Africa and Arabia as rich in influences as is the coastal language Swahili, in which his songs are generally written.
Born in the era of the rupee
A character who has become almost folkloric, Kidude was born Fatuma Binti Baraka around 1910 or, as she remembered, “at the time of the rupee” (Indian currency then still in circulation in the region). The daughter of a coconut seller, she grew up in the village of Mfagimaringo and legend has it that one of her first acts of rebellion was to run away from the Koranic school at the age of ten. Inspired by the music and art of feminist and anti-colonialist activist Siti binti Saad, and by Egyptian firquah orchestras, Kidude wandered to Tanzania by dhow (traditional Arab sailboat) and began traveling across Africa. Is on foot (she was reluctant to wear shoes throughout her life) in order to pursue her own alternative education, singing and collecting songs along her adventures.
Returning to Zanzibar, she married and divorced twice and, unable to conceive a child, participated in the coming-of-age ceremonies of Unyago, a rite of passage during which adolescent girls receive social and sexual education. It was at this time that Fatuma Binti Baraka became Bi Kidude (in Kiswahili, “little grandmother”) because of her small size and her role as a proxy mother. Throughout her eventful life, Kidude pursued many independent activities as a healer, apothecary, henna artist and, of course, musician.
She ended up settling in the Shangani district of Stone Town, where she began frequenting taarab social clubs and immersing herself in this culture led by women, whose very free words, like thumbing their noses at the patriarchy environment, frequently take men to task by discussing their sexual behavior. Drawing attention to herself, she quickly became a local celebrity, yet remaining relatively unknown outside of Zanzibar.
This remained until the 1980s, when Mim Suleiman saw the singer for the first time, already a senior.
« I’ll never forget. We lived in Stone Town, Zanzibar », says Mim, amazed. “ There was only one TV channel and we were watching it, and some old people were talking to a singer. She was then 70 years old and it was she who was interviewed. Looking at her I was mesmerized. »
Despite this notable appearance, Mim quickly clarifies that Kidude was not particularly appreciated, and she was even often ridiculed at that time. All her life, her rebellious art and her refusal to respect the purdah (curtain of separation which hides women from the sight of men, Editor’s note) came up once morest conservatism, described as “haram” (sin) by people who ” still don’t realize the value it had », insists Mim.
A renewed interest (and respect) for his interpretation of the taarab repertoire will facilitate a series of tours, first with the Sahib El-Ahri Band, then with the Twinkling Stars, during which Kidude will ignite the stages of Europe, from Scandinavia, Japan, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Rewarded in 2005 with a WOMEX prize, the story of Kidude and her international success at the end of her life, a bit like a Buena Vista Social Club, inspired two films, As old as my tongue and I shot Bi Kidude directed by documentary filmmaker Andy Jones. It was when she reached her twilight years that Mim Suleiman, now living in the United Kingdom, realized she had to try to meet her.
Mim then abandoned science in favor of music and rediscovered the music of Kidude: “ I really understood who she was better when I became a musician. Her strength, her endurance, the size she took when she played, it made me cry. I told myself that I had to know more regarding this woman, she is getting old! »
Transmissions
This is how Mim went to Zanzibar in 2013 to pay tribute to Kidude, who was now ill. “ I serenaded him, I knew I would never get another chance to do it. She also knew that she didn’t have much time left. », explains Mim. Kidude actually died three weeks later.
« She was an authentic artist. She was a healer, she was… “. Mim lacks words to do justice to the woman she feels so lucky to have met. « The energy she possessed, her fearlessness ».
Mim is a real jack of all trades: she wrote a cookbook, produced films, including her feminist road movie SISTER (« East Africa’s first road movie with women behind the wheel “), and of course writes her own music, which she performs both acoustically and electronically.
As our conversation touches on Bi Kidude’s catalogue, Mim mentions “Muhogo wa jang’ombe”, supported by the iconic Culture Music Club, with its violins, zither and typically taarab percussion. “ I love this insolent sense “, says Mim regarding the poetic lyrics which metaphorically advocate the value of work, all interpreted by Kidude and the strength that characterizes her.
Starting off the song boldly by singing “ I’m not afraid of the spoon when it comes to cooking cassava », Bi continue :
Cow cassava, I have not licked the taboo
I’m not afraid to touch Jang’ombe cassava, I’m not afraid of superstitions
Don’t insult the midwives, and the birth is still there
Don’t insult midwives because you may need them during childbirth
Kaditamati naapa, muhogo sitonunua
I swear on my honor that I will not buy this cassava
It was not Maimuna, who went to root
It wasn’t Maimuna who went to uproot him
Get fragile to fry, and a disease of courage
She suffers from diarrhea and cramps since eating cassava
Mim also mentions a clip of Kidude drumming with impressive vigor. This brings us to the final chapter of this biography: the influence of this century-old percussionist on the Singeli.
Just like Kidude who reworked the compositions of Siti binti Saad, today’s DIY singeli artists recycle Kidude’s music in the form of loops, borrowing Unyago rhythms and having fun breaking all the rules.
With a myth that only continues to grow, our conversation ends with the promise of more anecdotes: “ I hear new stories regarding him all the time », laughs Mim, before concluding with this fascinating dive into the life and legacy of an artist as authentic as she is unique.
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#Memories #Kidude #Mim #Suleiman
