Mozambique’s Continuadores is stepping into the global spotlight with two high-profile shows at Transmusicales de Rennes this week.
Ailton José Matavela and Tiago Correia-Paulo will take to the stage on Thursday December 5th at UBU (17h45) and on Friday December 6th at the at the Champs-Libres during an afternoon concert being staged in anticipation of the Africa 2020 season launched by the French Institute.
A measure of the excitement surrounding these two performances is in the duo’s selection by Jean-Louis Brossard as one of the five must-see acts at the iconic international music festival.
“ …I’m always looking for originality,” stated the co-founder, booker and artistic director of the festival while singling out Continuadores as an example of this.
Their Transmusicales appearances are confirmation of Continuadores’ growing reputation as an exciting addition to the global music landscape.
Formed by Matavela (Trkz) and Correia-Paulo (A Million Things, 340ml, Bongeziwe Mabandla) after a chance meeting at a house party in Maputo, Continuadores is a musical project that expresses itself by paying a nostalgic audiovisual homage to the early formative years of Mozambique as a young and recently independent nation.
It is inspired by the poetic responsibility that was continuously transmitted by President Samora Machel – and which was expressed through Continuadores, an organisation he created to promote children’s rights and the transmission of values such as patriotism, solidarity and national unity across the country.
“We want Continuadores to be a reminder of a time that had expired, but that should never be forgotten, and to arouse curiosity towards the journey of ‘Mozambicanity’ – from independence to the place where we are at present,” says the duo. Transmusicales de Rennes has been running since 1979 and is a key festival for breaking new homegrown and foreign acts in France.
Catch Continuadores at playing at Transmusicales here.
