Ntahomvukiye, Ariel Fabrice
Music, Memory and Identity among Burundians Exiled in Rwanda
- 2021.
92
In Burundi, the political crisis, triggered in April 2015 after President Nkurunziza announced his third candidacy, has caused a wave of migration of over 300,000 people to neighboring countries. Based on an ethnographic study, this article demonstrates how musical practices, whether practicing as musicians or listening privately or publicly in a concert or church, constitute a space where past and present interconnect in a dynamic of identity (re)construction. The migratory context also allows artists to become internationalized while keeping an anchorage in their country of origin. The music evokes memories of the listeners’ past, both individually and collectively, and contributes to strengthening and expressing a sense of belonging to the Burundian identity.