Bristol Peace Lecture draws inspiration from West Africa
'Presentation will use words and music to show how anyone can use their creative skills to promote peace.’
Bristol Quakers have chosen a sacred West African musical instrument to accompany this year’s annual Peace Lecture. The event next month will feature playwright and activist Ros Martin and Cameroon musician Alphonse Daudet Touna.
Graham Davey, on behalf of Bristol Quakers’ Quaker Peace & Social Action Group, told the Friend that ‘this year, the event on 5 March will take a very different form. Ros Martin is an attender at Frenchay Meeting, Bristol, who comes from Nigerian, St. Lucian and Brazilian heritage. She is a writer, playwright and artist who is also a peace activist. Ros will be joined by Alphonse Daudet Touna, a West African musician playing the balafon and other instruments. Together, their presentation will use words and music to show how anyone can use their creative skills to promote peace.’
Often playing a balafon he made himself, Alphonse Daudet Touna sings messages of peace and hope in his own language, Bassa. He started at an early age playing the drums at traditional village ceremonies before forming a band inspired by the rhythms of the Bantu Forest of West Africa. His band has played at many festivals and venues including Glastonbury and London’s South Bank, and has supported Eliades Ochoa of the Buena Vista Social Club. The balafon is considered a sacred instrument in many West African spiritual traditions.
Graham Davey said that it was Ros Martin’s idea ‘to present an account of her experiences of peace-making in conjunction with an African musician. We shall not all be taking up the balafon but the presentation may inspire a few of us to think of ways in which we could use our creative skills to promote peace and social justice.’
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