Africa report
Madagascar: hiragasy, transmission of popular wisdom [2/2]
Audio 02:26
The "hiragasy" is an ancestral art that combines songs, dances, music, acrobatics and speeches.
© Laetitia Bezain / RFI
By: Laetitia Bezain Follow
3 mins
In Madagascar, the onset of the dry season kicks off the hiragasy shows.
This ancestral art of the central highlands of the Big Island, a sort of opera, which was used in particular by the Malagasy sovereigns to convey messages to the people, has been able to adapt over the generations.
With their shows that combine songs, dances, music, public speaking and acrobatics, the hiragasy troupes, originally from the countryside, attract many spectators and continue to transmit popular wisdom, moral values and criticism of society, all tinged with humor .
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From our special correspondent in Mandrosoa,
It is in their stronghold of Mandrosoa, one of the villages below the sacred hill of Antongona, two hours from the capital, that the members of the Ramilison Besigara Zanany troupe compose.
Radona is the leader of this renowned company in Madagascar.
“
In our troop, there are farmers and breeders
,” Radona explains.
“
The money we earn with our shows allows us to take care of our crops.
The role and influence of these rural artists in Malagasy society are still very much present, continues Radona.
Our themes revolve around the love of parents for their children, respect for elders, fidelity... In hiragasy, we are free to talk about what we want.
For example, people are always told to stop corruption, but who does it?
These are the people in high places!
And we're not afraid to say it in our shows.
This is why hiragasy occupies an essential place in society.
► Also to listen: Hiragasy in Madagascar, at the time of rehearsal
“Rebalancing the ordinary and the extraordinary”
An art that we also encounter at each important stage in the lives of Malagasy people, says Valérine Ravololoniaina, singer and composer.
"
We're not like most performers who are on a stage and the audience downstairs watching them
," she warns.
“
In the hiragasy, we are in the open air and the public sits around us.
It is an art that is close to the people.
During circumcisions, weddings, inaugurations of houses or ceremonies for turning the dead over, we always call on the artists of hiragasy
”, emphasizes Valérine Ravololoniaina.
For Hemerson Andrianetrazafy, historian and visual artist, “
the arrival of hiragasy is the sound of bass drums, drum rolls.
It is the announcement of the party, and where there is the party, there is the creation of a space where there is the word of kings.
They are now the holders of morality to prevail.
They also play the role of counter-power.
Currently, this notion of “ climate injustice ”
is integrated into the themes
in this society which continues to sink into an economic and social crisis.
Hiragasy helps rebalance the ordinary and the extraordinary, which makes life a little easier
.
»
The Malagasy authorities submitted a file to Unesco at the beginning of the month for this art to be recognized as intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
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