Three men, three formations, a junction point: “The valuation of cultural memory of the North”. “Everyone by translating reality in their own way,” said one of them.
The first is a discreet man who expresses his ambitions through scientific work. Claudio Karany claims his heritage with pride. Freshly doctor in anthropology of Antakarana rituals, he tirelessly pursues his quest for knowledge.
The second is an artist, alone carrying four arts. Kotoson brain is above all a pedagogue. “” Dr Badobadolahy “, A nickname that he has attributed himself, gives back to memory and oral practices, which he dusts through the dance of yesteryear and immortalizes thanks to his camera.
As for the last, Momo Jaomonga, a committed poet and defender of Sakalava customs, he devoted himself to meticulous research on ancient vocabulary.
Through distinct paths-university research, artistic creation and protest poetry-these three actors work in the transmission, reinvention and mobilization of the north-Malgache intangible heritage.
“” We revive the practices of ancestors while adapting them to the context of cultural globalization, institutional decentage and identity renegotiation that we are going through. It is a question of questioning the way in which local cultural expressions resist, dialogue and transform themselves within broader social dynamics “, Underlines Claudio Karany.
As a result, these three cultural activists share a strong territorial anchoring in the northern region of the Big Island, a crossroads of Sakalava and Antakarana identities. Their respective work has as a matrix the same desire for cultural recognition: to make the unknown voices heard or marginalized by urban centers or central power. If Claudio Karany is interested in the traditional governance structures of the Antakarana, Momo Jaomanonga makes the language resonate through his poetic works, while Kotoson brain translated by dance and photography.
The northern tip of the country can be proud of its three actors in cultural development. Not only do they help to rekindle a sometimes forgotten radiance, but they also arouse the awareness of their compatriots. In addition, they still have all the youth in front of them to transmit ancestral knowledge.
Collected by ISS Haridiny
