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Yann and Joshua were brought together for an artistic residency of the same principle. Headed up by SHAP SHAP, an organization connecting the hemispheres through artistic collaboration, the two artists were commissioned to participate in an exchange that would culminate in their Antigel performance. Due to travel restrictions, Yann couldn\u2019t make it to Zimbabwe, and the two had to work together online and in the two week window Joshua had in Geneva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m of Chewa, Shona and Nguni heritage so I like to explore elements of my cultural background and I do that through audiovisual art and performance,<\/em>\u201d Joshua explained to me, the day after the show. \u201cWe both discovered as part of this whole process a real appreciation for our points of view<\/em>.\u201d Elaborating on the foundations of the collaboration Joshua continues, \u201cIt didn\u2019t make sense for me to push Yann to make something from Zimbabwe and it wouldn\u2019t make sense for him to push me to write about Switzerland. We\u2019re building on a foundation that we\u2019re two different people and that\u2019s okay.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yann chimed in, \u201cWe tried at some point to share our respective cultural backgrounds, but then we quickly switched, deciding we\u2019re not obliged to talk about where we come from.<\/em>\u201d He continued, \u201cMe as a Swiss guy and Josh as a Zimbabwean guy, we\u2019re just two people born on different parts of the Earth. What we bring to the project is just our story, our dreams, our values.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The performance is dream-like. With a stage design that looks like a splintered crate and a visual projection both abstract and visceral (\u201cshoutout to Sophie Le Meillour on set design<\/em>\u201d Joshua mentions) everything is hypnotically repetitive, and Yann finds a way to shake listeners out of expectation. And the values are human. Joshua\u2019s spoken word returns again and again to the \u201cso many lines<\/em>\u201d that seem to separate us, lamenting those who have \u201csuffered the sword<\/em>\u201d and reminding us that, \u201cif you cut me I bleed blood as red as yours.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0As Joshua moves back to his chair, puts on his mask, and opens again his book, Yann takes the soundscape to a crescendo of synths and thumping bass. The moment is cathartic. Everyone, for that moment, shared the same awe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back again to the next morning on the lake: \u201cIt seems like nowadays we\u2019re really focusing on differences and the more we focus on those differences we create an element of separation<\/em>,\u201d says Joshua. This year Yann plans to complete the exchange, traveling to Harare to continue developing their artistic vision and working in Joshua\u2019s studio where he is creating a space for young artists to train their digital skills. More lines soon to dissolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An exploration of differences ends in a common vision of shared humanity. I bid the duo farewell and booked it for the train station to catch my ride back to Paris. Listening to music in my headphones made halfway around the world, I thought of what Yann said towards the end of our talk, \u201cFor me sound directly makes you travel in your head. If I put on music now, you\u2019ll project yourself somewhere<\/em>. So it was natural that it was sounds that touched me and Josh the most<\/em>. I think that’s something that speaks to everybody.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more about SHAP SHAP<\/a> and the work of Antigel Festival here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At this year’s Antigel festival, PAM spoke with a Zimbabwean poet and Swiss sound artist about their intercultural collaboration as part of SHAP SHAP\u2019s Global South initiative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":98272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7833,7835],"tags":[4096],"location":[8288,8350],"yst_prominent_words":[8539,8402,8435,19237,8438],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98244"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98244"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=98244"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=98244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pan-african-music-production.fra1.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/joshua_chiundizaxyan_8UYJN-1010x673.jpg\")