FROM its humble beginnings 14 years ago, the
Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) has grown into one of world’s best international festivals (as voted by music magazine Songlines) and the paramount attraction in
Sarawak’s tourism calendar.
Surveying the motley crew of visitors, performers, volunteers and media in the audience of festival goers during the 14th RWMF last weekend, it’s easy to understand why the festival has spawned a unique culture all its own.
For most first-time festival goers, they are drawn by the promise of witnessing world-class music acts from around the globe against the unprecedented stage setting of a tropical rainforest. It’s the chance to flock together with other like-minded music lovers and immerse themselves in the exhilarating world of music where the traditional and the contemporary dovetail to form harmonious musical expressions which are at once familiar yet fresh and dynamic.
For returning festival goers, it’s all these things plus an annual pilgrimage of sorts – a time set apart in the year to enjoy good music and meet up with friends and acquaintances from far and near – with
Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV),
Santubong, as the point of confluence. It’s a time to renew old bonds and friendships.
But what all of these different groups expect is good music and a good time – something which is still very much a challenge for the festival’s organisers even with 13 festival’s worth of experience under their belt.
It could be said the success of the festival largely depends on balancing these different expectations of comfortable predictability with just the right amount of unpredictability, stemming from the pleasant surprise of new discoveries of new music, new acts, and new friends.
Magic of discoveryThe afternoon workshop sessions, organised by themes such as instrument types, genres and geographical regions, demonstrate this delicate balancing act at work.
Afternoon workshop sessions are the defining attraction for many new and returning RWMF goers. In addition to giving them the opportunity to interact with performers in a fun and casual setting, it also provides performers with an intimate platform from which to share their unique knowledge, experiences and cultural background with other performers as well as audience members.
This successful formula of thematic workshops rarely changes from year to year but it does not always lead to the same outcome.
For example, this year’s ‘The Rhythm Method’ workshop. As the percussionists representing Afro Caribbean (Joaquin Diaz – Dominican Republic, Malike Pathe Sow – Senegal), bhangra-rock (Kissmet – UK), Eastern European (Warsaw Village Band – Poland) and gamelan (Agung Beat – Sabah) played in unison, it almost seemed possible that the venue was in danger of falling in on itself – such was the roar of appreciation from the crowd, clapping their hands and stomping on the wooden floor in time to the music.
A loud, rip-roaring good time is the outcome which the RWMF crowd have come to expect from the two or three percussions workshops organised every year.
But what they did not expect but, nonetheless, found themselves enthusiastically participating in was singing and dancing en masse in synchronisation to a bhangra rhythm led by the tabla, complete with familiar Bollywood-esquehand gestures thrown in for good measure.
Adding to the mix, the organisers also introduced twice daily 20-minute performance by Leweton Women’s Water Music – which was a stroke of ingenuity on their part as this group fast became a crowd favourite despite not having a performance slot during the main night concerts.
Dressed in traditional garbs hand-made from leaves, freshly plucked from plants around Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV), the group’s six female members began their moving performance with a swaying dance by the man-made lake at the centre of SCV before wading into its waters until water levels reached up to their waists.
Then, using only water as their instrument, these women astounded onlookers by producing a surprisingly wide range of sounds – from deep, resounding booms to light splashes reminiscent of fish splashing in shallow waters – beating the water with their bare hands while singing and dancing in time to the rhythms.
The festival marked their maiden trip outside their home country of Vanuatu to perform but these unassuming women with shy but ready smiles quickly won the hearts of many festival goers.
Magic of musicAs for this year’s night concerts, probably the most unexpected thing to occur was that the weather stayed clear and the (in)famous muddy moshpit of years past did not make its usual showing – much to the disappointment of some festival goers who missed getting down and dirty.
This year, the organisers largely managed to achieve the right balance of contemporary and traditional world music acts, traversing the gulf between fans demanding world ethnic music versus festival goers who just wanted to party.
As expected, the show stealers were mainly those able to get the crowd on their feet and dancing. Memorable sets included Grammy nominated zydeco-Cajun music group Lisa Haley and the Zydecats (USA), Australian folk music ensemble Kamerunga, bhangra-rock fusion group Kissmet (UK), Mexican music act Victor Valdez Trio, Latin-Caribbean music maestro Joaquin Diaz (Dominican Republic), and Paddy Keenan (Ireland).
Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Expecting the unexpected at the Sarawak Rainforest World Music Festival.