Burkina Faso Opera Project 

LÀ-BAS OU ICI...

 "LÀ-BAS OU ICI...", (there or here...) is a new style of opera in French and several other West-African local languages produced by Keiko Fujiie in Burkina Faso, Africa. 
The project, which started in late 2019, seeks to integrate multiple cultures, languages and art forms to create an open work. The title is taken from the semi-autobiographical novel
'L'Aube d'un avenir avorté....', written in French by Moyi Mbourangon, famous rapper, activist and political refugee from the Republic of Congo. Based on this novel, the libretto for the opera was completed by incorporating recent events in Burkina Faso as well as the personal experiences and thoughts of Fujiie's band members. Fujiie is an internationally renowned composer who already premiered several operas in Japan, Poland and Germany. In this project, her vast experience and knowledge of Western classical music and traditional East Asian music were put into dialogue and fused with the music and the spirit of West Africa. African music has no score and is transmitted orally, which means that the process of creating the opera requires a close communication and a longer rehearsal period than usual. 
The work in two acts were finally completed in November 2023.

The first five songs of the opera were premiered at the Goethe-Institut in Ouagadougou
in January 2021. Partial performances of the opera subsequently took place at  l'Institut français de Ouagadougou in April, at Le Bambou theater in Bobo-Dioulasso in February 2022, at the Grand Auditorium of  l'Institut français de Ouagadougou in March and again at the Goethe-Institut
in December.
By accumulating these performances, the group's members not only get a feel for the audience's reactions each time, listen to their opinions and make adjustments based on them, but also learn about the various things that occur one after another in the tense situation in Burkina Faso. I tried to think about such incidents and reflect them in the plot of the opera. This opera should not be a work that is divorced from the current situation of ordinary people in Burkina Faso. The primary objective of this project is to draw attention to the suffering of people in difficult situations and to call everyone to take responsibility for building PEACE with each other, without getting discouraged.