More than a festival
Couleur Café is
a home for artistic creativity. One could easily think music is the most
important aspect in this festival celebrated every year in Brussels. And, of
course, it is one of them, but not the only. Probably, its celebration of
solidarity, its mix of cultures, its green spirit, are the soul of a party that
smells like coffee and tastes really delicious. Art exhibitions, concerts,
dance, fifty three restaurants with food from Ethiopia, Togo, Congo, Ivory
Coast, Senegal, Ghana, some countries from Asia and many more, also with stands
offering their traditional handcrafts. Serge Gainsbourg composed Couleur Café under the influence of
afro-cuban rhythms, the Couleur Café Festival was born in that open minded
spirit.
But music is the
major event. This year the music trip walked along the sounds of Erykah Badu,
Ayo, Public Enemy, Ben l’Oncle Soul, Brigitte, Orishas, Sarah Ferri, The
Excitements and many more. Erykah Babu presented her latest album New Amerykah Part Two (Return
of the Ankh) (2010, Universal Motown Records) as a new stop in her Out My Mind, Just in Time World Tour.
After the magnificent video Window seat, a
splendid time was guaranteed for all. Ayo’s I’m
gonna dance sounded and made us dance with her wonderful voice full of
energy from her latest and powerful album Billie-Eve
(2011). She went down the stage and surrounded by the audience she sang so
moving to finally say “ God bless you cause it's thanks to you all that I can be
here”. Public Enemy, kings of hip hop in the late eighties, have a heavy sound
on stage thanks to a long list of classics and a great performance. Brigitte is
a French duo project whose debut album Et
vous, tu m’aimes? (2012) is becoming a new peak for the French music scene.
Their concert was so exciting that it was not easy to say goodbye. The
Excitements is a really funky soul band from Barcelona. Just let you ears feel
their Take the bitter with the sweet and
the voice of Koko Jean Davis Never gonna
let you go.
And the art
exhibition included works by David Palmont, Yannick Ledaniel, Patricia Guilhem,
Michel Liégois, Alexandre Dang, Christophe Dalecki, Astan Zigo, Fred Merz,
Alice Smeets, Akintunde Akinleye, Wilmes & Mascaux, Robert Gligorov, Cédric
Tanguy, Kahn & Selesnick, Roberto Kusterle, Bob Verschueren, Ellen Kooi,
Pascal Bernier, Jacques Dujardin, Florin Balmus and Ada Rajszys. Contemporary
art under the title Nature je t’aime, moi
non plus. Again it was a reference to Gainsbourg’s spirit in an exhibition
about the link between humans and nature.
One negative
aspect is that being in Brussels it was really strange that a festival so open
to different cultures was not respectful enough with Dutch speakers, one of the
Belgian official languages, also in the Brussels region. Millions of Belgians
speak Dutch but it was not easy to ask for a simple rode wijn because most of the time people didn’t understand you. Nederlands, alstublieft!
But for the
rest, it was a great party. Their coffee is always ready to be tasted and free
your spirit. From Friday 29th June to Sunday 1st July,
life was going on in Brussels in a colorful way. As Serge Gainsbourg once sang“J´aime ta couleur café, tes cheveux café, ta gorge café, j´aime quand
pour moi tu danses, alors j´entends murmurer, tous tes bracelets, jolis
bracelets, à tes pieds ils se balancent”.
COOL ART CAFÉ: NATURE JE T'AIME MOI NON PLUS. Click here
COULEUR CAFÉ 2012 VIDEOS click here
COOL ART CAFÉ: NATURE JE T'AIME MOI NON PLUS. Click here
COULEUR CAFÉ 2012 VIDEOS click here
Text by Juan
Carlos Romero
Photo courtesy
of Couleur Café Festival
Couleur Café
Festival website www.couleurcafe.be
Song Couleur Café written by Serge Gainsbourg.
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