Let’s celebrate the Make Music Day

On the occasion of the 2014 Make Music Day, ArkeoTopia wished to celebrate archeology in songs in collaboration with the Simplon en Fêtes (Simplon in festival) neighborhood association on Saturday, June 21, 2014.

	The Consciousness a penetrating rhythm with Chris and Bruno © Gallic B., 2014

Supported by the Town Hall of the 18th district in Paris via the Amiraux-Simplon-Poissonniers district council and Ms. Catherine Nevanen, head of the Simplon comprehensive school in the 18th district, young and old alike were able to listen, dance and sing from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Place Cécile Brunschvicg under a bright sun. At the initiative of the Simplon en Fêtes neighborhood association, this Saturday, June 21, was the occasion for a program like no other.

After the performances by the apprentice violinists, Les mille et un violons (The thousand and one violins), from the school violin workshop and by young dancers from the Serbian folk group La Source (The Source), the adults took the stage. First of all, the elders of the folk group allowed the spectators to continue their discovery journey of the still very much alive cultural heritage of Serbia through its music, choreography and traditional costumes.

Then, with musical compositions and lyrics by Ms. Christiane Angibous-Esnault, the group ArkaeoRock from ArkeoTopia and its glamrockers Katia and Dagmar, supported by Bruno Tardito on guitar and François on bass, engaged the spectators. After a promenade on digging sites with The excavation rock (Le rock des fouilles), the public wiggled on Twisticono revealing how researchers analyze images. The ethics and dilemmas of research were even tackled via the song The Consciousness (La Conscience). Songs with text, but fun and danceable, made for an original way to introduce the public to the secrets of archeology and to the wonders of science in general, to the tunes of the twist, the blues, rock and even ethnic music.

Finally, the Grand Ensemble Cacophonique de Simplon en Fêtes (Big Cacophonic Ensemble of Simplon in Festival) with Bruno, François and Pierre took over. Revisiting the great classics of French song (Brassens, Fugain, Sardou and many others), but also great rock hits without forgetting more recent ones, the trio got the crowd singing, even inviting children to grab the microphone and join in on a few songs. The afternoon ended with a jam session by the trio, the audience and members of ArkaeoRock on Toi Plus Moi by Grégoire. A nice way to say goodbye while remembering that, with Simplon en Fêtes, Make Music Day permits everyone to share a beautiful and friendly moment, no matter their age or their horizons.

• Simplon en Fêtes, a neighborhood association of the Amiraux-Simplon-Poissonniers district. Find their program on simplon-en-fetes.ouvaton.org
• Izvor, literally The Source, is a traditional Serbian dance group whose objective is to share and keep alive Serbian culture in France and worldwide through songs and dances from the great regions of the former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo-and-Metochia, Macedonia, Croatia, Montenegro…). Find them on www.izvor-paris.fr
• ArkeoTopia, an alternative approach to archeology aims to take another look at today’s archeology to help build tomorrow’s research by recreating a link between citizens, researchers and heritage stakeholders. Find his program on www.arkeotopia.org

Thanks to Gallic B. for the photograph cover and the free use of photographs.

If you cannot watch the video, use the link on YouTube