South Africa 22-27 sept. 2010

What is identity? What is Zulu, Boer, Nederlander, Xhosa, what is cultural identity, heritage, what is ‘love for your fatherland’, what is nationalism.
Can a Dutchman do a Gumboots dance, and a Zulu a clog dance? Is a concertina a South African instrument, is a Mbira one? And what about barrel organs, carillons, is 16th century recorder music Zulu heritage? How is our identity made, what symbols are used to construct and manipulate it and what happens if you use those symbols in a completely different context?
POW Ensemble addresses these questions in its new South Africa project EKHAYA, with special guest Sazi Dlamini.

EKHAYA is a dazzling show in which South African tunes, saxophone madness, scratching, sparkling improvisations, recorder virtuosity, Dutch traditionals, soundscapes, and disordering songs melt together. The computer plays the role of mediator between all these elements, sometimes merging them together, and occasionally colliding them with each other, leading to original and often surprising combinations.

Sazi Dlamini (Durban, RSA) Special guest – umakhuweyane, umqangala, mbira, flutes, voice and percussion
Erik Bosgraaf (NL) – recorders, live electronics
Guy Harries (UK) – voice, flute, computer
DJ DNA (NL) – turntables, computer
Luc Houtkamp (NL) – computer, live electronics
Ard Heinkens (NL) – sound design

Ekhaya has been premiered at the eMusic festival in September 2010:

22 september 17:30 Centre for Jazz and Popular Music, Durban
24 september 19:30 eMusic festival, Durban
26 september,  17:00, Arts Alive festival Johannesburg
27 september 19:00 University of Witswatersrand, Johannesburg

Ekhaya is financially supported by NewMusicSA, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in South Africa, and Fund for the Performing Arts, The Netherlands.