The Gathering – A Night of Senegalese, Bosnian and Sephardic Jewish Music in Australia

“The Gathering” is an intimate act of coming together of artists Lamine Sonko with his trio and Nela Trifković with her ensemble SARAY Iluminado in the ritual of musical, cultural and poetic exchange. Through original compositions, traditional melodies and stories that accompany them these artists transform the intimate surroundings of MEMO HALL into a temple of West African and West Balkan connection.

And what do a Senegalese guewel (a traditional role of a “culture keeper”) and a Bosnian “song-teller” have in common? Both, Lamine and Nela grew up in worlds dynamically imbued with cultural knowledges and practices, which have informed their ways of being and daily lives since early childhood.

Fast forward to 30 years later in Australia, drawing on these knowledges, Lamine and Nela create an immersive show that sheds light on the little -known creative stories and histories of Senegal and Bosnia and Herzegovina – countries that, on first impression, might seem very unlike, yet they reveal enormous aesthetic and poetic resonances.
“The Gathering” is a celebration of Love, Culture and Humanity as expressed through songs and stories that are rearing their heads in their new Australian environment, illuminating unique cultural voices as they preserve and re-imagine homeland/s.