Promote what we have, not what we borrow - Ateh Bazor

Renowned Cameroonian folklore artist, Ateh Bazor, has urged Cameroonian youths to promote their culture, which is priceless and highly appreciated even by westerners, whose culture they are struggling to emulate.

He made this call in an exclusive interview with The Post on his return from Gaziantep, South-East Turkey where he and other members of a Cameroonian delegation won a trophy at the International Festival of Art and Culture, Pistachio 2014.

Excerpts: The Post: You just came back from Gaziantep where you represented Cameroon for the first time at an international folklore and dance festival. Can you share your experience with us?

Ateh Bazor: The festival brought together dance groups and artisans from all over Turkey and various parts of the world; Asia, Serbia, India and many others. The festival ran from the 18th to the 21st of September and culminated in a big concert which was watched by over 50.000 people and broadcast live on television.

It was a memorable experience. We were lodged in some of the best hotels and we had guides who took us all over the city of Gaziantep. The place is so orderly and the people don’t leave anything to chance. The shows begin on time, tickets are bought without constraint and even the state-of-the-art of instruments we used; it’s difficult to explain but it was very wonderful. When you say ‘us’, who else are you referring to?

I went as part of the delegation of the municipality of Fongho-tongho in the West Region, who have a twining agreement with Gaziantep and they were represented there by their Deputy Mayor, Jean-Paul Nanfack.

You were conferred an award during the festival. What were you awarded for?

You see, during the concert the judges had to decide on the best dance performance and we happened to be the best so we were given a trophy for the best performance.

Before departing you stated that your participation should make Cameroon proud as the nation’s beauty shall be showcased through your technical dance steps accompanied by your symbolic horsetail stick and originality of your songs.

Can you now assert that you have made Cameroon proud?

In the first place we on our part were proud to fly our country’s flag high and I believe that it is the entire Cameroon that was honoured through our performance in Turkey, so yes, we have made Cameroon proud.

Upon your arrival back in Cameroon, how were you received?

I would like to say that even when we arrived Istanbul from Gaziantep, we were warmly received and the response was very positive. We had even received many messages on the internet from those who had watched us perform, lauding us for what we had achieved and some encouraging us to do better.

But we arrived Douala airport as late as 2:00 am and drove quietly to Yaounde. So apart from the messages we saw on the net, we are still hoping that some sort of a ceremony will be organised if possible even at the Ministry of Arts and Culture for us to present this trophy. It is only then that I can talk of the reaction in Cameroon.

So what is your take home message for youths venturing into your brand of music?

Today you see a lot of young people who only want to go for rap and other western music. But I want to say that the best you can give out is what you have, not what you have borrowed.

When you borrow culture from someone else you can never be natural and authentic, so if they want to go into music the best they can give out will only come from what they have, they can only think in terms of bringing something new into what is already existing not changing it.

Music to me is a means of fighting the domination of other cultures over ours. When you move out of the country and see how people receive our culture out there it’s amazing! We put on our traditional regalia through out our stay in Turkey and you needed to see how many Turks wanted to take pictures with us everywhere we went.

They were excited to watch us play the sanza live and after the show they were begging to greet us. So you see, youths should invest in what is ours, develop it, modernise it and take it out and it is certain that they would get the same response that we had.