Et af Afrikas musikalske og politiske ikoner, sangdronningen Angélique Kidjo, lægger vejen forbi København til efteråret, når hun optræder i Amager Bio lørdag den 11. oktober 2014. Det skriver biograf- og eventstedet i en pressemeddelelse.
Kidjo kendes bedst i Danmark for 90’er-hittet ”Agolo”, men det er kun en lille del af den 53-årige sangerindes karriere.
Kidjo, der kommer fra det lille vestafrikanske land, Benin, debuterede tilbage i 1988, da hun lod sig inspirere af idoler som amerikanerne Nina Simone (1933-2003) og nu 72-årige Aretha Franklin.
Ikke mindst på grund af disse kunstneres personlige og politisk farvede sangtekster – se også http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Simone
Siden dengang har hun parret den afrikanske musiktradition med den vestlige verdens pop og jazz.
Hun har udgivet ti albums, og arbejdet sammen med store navne som Bono, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone, Alicia Keys og Peter Gabriel.
Kidjos seneste album, ”Eve”, udkom i år og er, ifølge hende selv, dedikeret til Afrikas kvinder: ”De kæmper alle en utrolig kamp, de er smukke, og til trods for al modgangen smiler de! Sådan kæmper man videre med værdigheden i behold”.
Ved siden af sin musikkarriere er Angélique Kidjo politisk aktiv, bl.a. som ambassadør for FNs Børnefond (UNICEF) – se neden for.
Britiske The Guardian har udnævnt hende til en af verdens mest inspirerende kvinder, og hun optrådte i København i forbindelse med FN’s Klimatopmøde i november-december 2009.
AFTERPARTY
Efter Kidjo har optrådt, kan man feste videre i Amager Bio, når DJ Gaïnde fra Malmø sætter stemningen med afrikansk musik, såsom highlife, soucousse, afrobeat, mbalx, bambara og afroreggae.
Forsalget er igang via http://www.billetnet.dk/checkout/event.php?eventId=AMA1110H
Man kan se og høre hende på https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTgj_myK3qk
Mere om hende på http://www.kidjo.com
En engageret kvinde
Angélique Kidjos politiske engagement er ret så omfattende. Her Wikipedias liste:
Kidjo has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2002. With UNICEF, she has travelled to many countries in Africa. Reports on her visits can be found on the UNICEF site: Benin, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania,Syria, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Haiti.
Along with Mary Louise Cohen and John R. Phillips, Kidjo founded The Batonga Foundation, which gives girls a secondary school and higher education so that they can take the lead in changing Africa.
The foundation is doing this by granting scholarships, building secondary schools, increasing enrollment, improving teaching standards, providing school supplies, supporting mentor programs, exploring alternative education models and advocating for community awareness of the value of education for girls.
She campaigned for Oxfam at the 2005 Hong Kong WTO meeting, for the their Fair Trade Campaign and travelled with them in North Kenya and at the border of Darfur and Chad with a group of women leaders in 2007 and participated in the video for the In My Name Campaign with will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas.
Since March 2009, Angélique Kidjo has been campaigning for “Africa for women’s rights”. This campaign was launched by The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH).
On September 28, 2009, UNICEF and Pampers launched a campaign to eradicate Tetanus “Give The Gift Of Life” and asked Kidjo to produce the song “You Can Count On Me” to support the campaign. Each download of the song donates a vaccine to a mother or a mother-to-be.
With Jessica Biel and Peter Wentz, Angélique Kidjo was a LiveEarth Ambassador for the 2010 Run For Water events.
Kidjo has recorded a video based on her song “Agolo” and on the images of Yann Arthus-Bertrand for the United Nations SEAL THE DEAL Campaign to prepare for the Copenhagen Climate Change summit.
The Commission of the African Union (AU) announced on July 16, 2010, the appointment of Angélique Kidjo as one of 14 Peace Ambassadors to support the implementation of the 2010 Year of Peace and Security programme.
She appears in the Sudan365: Keep the Promise video to support the peace process in Darfur.
She supports the Zeitz Foundation, an organization focused on sustainable development and conservation.
In June 2010, she contributed the song “Leila” to the Enough Project and Downtown Records’ Raise Hope for DR Congo compilation. Proceeds from the compilation fund efforts to make the protection and empowerment of Congo’s women a priority, as well as inspire individuals around the world to raise their voice for peace in Congo.
In 2011, Kidjo collaborated with Forró in the Dark and Brazilian Girls on the track “Aquele Abraço” for the Red Hot Organization’s most recent charitable album Red Hot + Rio 2.
The album is a follow-up to the 1996 Red Hot + Rio. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues. Kidjo recorded a version of Fela Kuti’s Lady with Questlove and Tune-Yards for the Red Hot Organization in 2012.
In September 2012, she was featured in a campaign called “30 Songs / 30 Days” to support Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s book.
On February 18, 2013, at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Angelique was the host of a night of celebration for the cultural heritage of Mali. The event included performances by many Malian artists.
On May 22nd, 2014 Angelique Kidjo met with First lady Michelle Obama to discuss international girls’ education, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House.
