"Mede mi wa" (We Are Human Beings). Slammed Archives (Dahomey–Paris 1931)

"Mede mi wa" (We Are Human Beings). Slammed Archives (Dahomey–Paris 1931)

Musical lecture by Cécile Van den Avenne and Yewhe Yeton

In the spring of 1931, African soldiers (tirailleurs) left their barracks in Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël to take part in the Colonial Exhibition in Vincennes. By autumn, they were requisitioned to record so-called "indigenous" music, lending their voices to the microphones of the Musée de la Parole et du Geste. Among them, Hounsou, a Dahomean soldier, sang: "Mede mi wa" – We are not prisoners; we are human beings too.

This song, now an archive, became the starting point for our research-creation project, a collaboration between a social sciences researcher and a musician-collector rooted in the traditions of Hounsou’s region. Together, we sought to build a different relationship with these archives: refusing a static patrimonial approach, questioning their contexts of production, and listening carefully to the voices, languages, and acts of resistance they embody.

In 1931, Philippe Stern recorded an anthology of "songs, music, and indigenous dialects" with the support of the Pathé company: 368 recordings, 184 shellac records, and twenty hours of audio. Behind this vast enterprise lies a story—the story of soldier-musicians, often anonymous, whose memory is being reawakened today.

Drawing on archival research and careful listening, Yewhe Yeton, a musician from the same territory as Hounsou, composed four pieces. His work brings the archives to life: singing with them, sampling, extending their rhythms, and inhabiting their breath. This creative process forges a new dialogue between past and present, between memory and creation.

"Mede mi wa" takes the form of a musical lecture, intertwining historical analysis and live sound performance. After a first presentation in October 2024 at the Musée du Quai Branly and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the project continues its journey.

One guiding question remains: What happens when songs return to their homeland? What effects do they produce today, where they were once born? This is the direction we are pursuing: to let these voices be heard again, and to observe how they resonate, here and now.

This event is organized on the occasion of the exhibition Afrosonica – Soundscapes, in partnership with UNIGE, as part of the international conference "Lettered Figures of Oral Worlds: Colonial and Postcolonial Situations", taking place from May 22 to 23, 2025, co-organized by Vincent Debaene, Éléonore Devevey, and Soraya de Brégeas.
https://www.unige.ch/parole-indigene/activites/colloque-international
https://www.meg.ch/fr/expositions/afrosonica-paysages-sonores