In his wanderings through his adopted home country of Mexico, Belgian artist Francis Alÿs (b. 1959) addresses the topic of urban power structures in his video Cuentos Patrioticos, which plays out on the Zócalo, Mexico City’s main square. The square was laid out by the Spanish conquistadors as an emblem of their victory over the Aztecs and has repeatedly been the scene of demonstrations of power. In Cuentos Patrioticos we see a man taking a sheep on a lead in a circle around the large flagpole on Zócalo square. With every ring of the bell more sheep join the bellwether. Sheep are gregarious animals and accordingly, at the sight of the strange parade on this square so steeped in history, the automatic temptation is to see them as blind followers.
Still looking for the perfect christmas present for that aunt or uncle who loves Paul Simon, Caro Emerald and world music in general? Let him or her be ahead of the masses for once and get her Zanaka, the debut album by Parisian singer Jain. You won’t regret it.
Her latest success story is Makeba, which scored over a million views in a week on YouTube with her surrealistic video. Produced by award-winning producer Yodelice, Makeba is an ode to Miriam Makeba, who was the first artist to bring African pop music to the rest of the world in the 1960s.
Jain’s influences range from all over the world, as she’s lived in Dubai & Madagascar before and is currently based in France. The African influences come from growing up with her family in Congo, where she had her first encounters with the African percussion rhythms.
Two weeks ago Jain won an European Border Breakers Award, proving that the millions of views on her videos aren’t solely from French music lovers. Just like person who inspired her, she’s breaking borders too, European ones and even those between continents, one song at a time.
Enjoy!