Video. Congo Ramba, the extraordinary cultural heritage of mankind

UNESCO, which met with about sixty candidates this week, announced on Twitter on Tuesday that the document presented in Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brassa – the document presented by Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brassaville – was not enough. He joined Cuba Ramba, recorded in 2016, and in Central Africa, joined Pygmy Polyphonis (2003) in Central Africa or Drums in Burundi (2014).

“This wealth, which comes from the Congo and is exported around the world, is one of the components of our pride,” Communications Minister and DRC government spokeswoman Patrick Muyaya tweeted at a news conference last Thursday. Event, a few days before. “It is the duty of all of us to promote #rumba,” he added.

In Kinshasa and Brazzaville, experts have traced the origin of the rumba in the ancient Kingdom of Congo, where the dance Nkumba, meaning “navel”, was practiced because it allowed both males and females to dance the navel against the navel.

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With the slave trade, Africans brought their culture and music to the United States. To give birth to jazz in the north and ramba in the south, they initially based their instruments and later became more sophisticated. Prior to this, it was brought back to Africa by music merchants, with sound recordings and guitars.

Rumba is one hundred years old in its modern version. It’s the music of cities and pubs, meeting cultures and nostalgia, “resistance and resilience”, “sharing pleasure”, its way of life and its dress code (“The Chap”), recently explained to AFP. Professor Andre Yoga Lai, director of the National Art Institute (INA) Kinshasa.

According to him, Rumba is “pervasive, present in all spheres of national life”. This is marked by the political history of the two Congo before and after independence.

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It knows the ups and downs, its stars can sometimes be controversial or slanderous, and its production and distribution networks have been criticized for their lack of rigor.

But it lives and renews itself, we promise in two Congolese capitals, where we hope that this inscription in the world heritage will give a new glory among the people of Congo. “We are the country of Rumba, what does it do?” Asked the Minister of Communications.