Originally from Cameroon, Akutuk is a technique of water percussion with bare hands, a game between air, water and body. This ancestral skill pays tribute to the elements of nature for their benefits. A strictly feminine activity, that has been passed down from woman to woman in the Cameroonian forest for generations.
The Akutuk Origins project rehabilitates a cultural heritage whose music has almost been silenced. Our connection with water has changed over time. Loïs Zongo, the project leader, is mobilising her resources by bringing together the women of her native village to reassert the value of musical practices that have fallen into disuse, and to make this heritage visible again in the public space.
The suspended atmospheres and liquid melodies remind us of our first orchestra of amniotic sounds, the root and foundation of our emotions! A rare and unique moment.
Album “Akutuk sessions”, Pt. 1
AKUTUK ORIGINS has been awarded the “Olympiade Culturelle Paris 2024” label.
Olympiade Culturelle develops original programming that explores the links between art and sport, as well as the values shared by the arts and sports, such as excellence, inclusion, cultural diversity and universalism. It brings culture to sporting and other unusual venues.
Creation 2023
EUROPE // June – oct. 25
Workshop - Water percussion workshop Children Adults
Loïs Zongo - Akutuk, vocals, rhombus
Marie-Thérèse Atem - Akutuk, vocals
Monti Etetebe - Akutuk, vocals, rhombus