‘Click Song’, Qongqothwane, in the Xhosa language, was brought to the world by the great Miriam Makeba, a star singer in South Africa, a child of the townships who had an unimaginable destiny. She was forced to wear the wings of exile due to her strong stance against apartheid. She travelled the world making her fight known. She is considered the mother of Africa.
‘Click Song’ is a burning tribute to this extraordinary woman, a rosebud draped in a patchouli leaf, whose solid and deep roots of amber and labdanum sink into the sacred ground of its origins.
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba, also known as Mama Afrika, was an essential part of South Africa, indeed of Africa itself. Her trajectory and destiny were almost unimaginable: a child of the townships who became a singer almost by chance, she went on to become a star in her country who was forced to wear the wings of exile due to her strong stance against apartheid.
During her thirty-one years of separation from her native land and her relatives, she travelled the world making her fight known, playing her music, and singing in a mix Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, Swahili, Arabic and English with ease. She is considered the mother of Africa.
In the 1960s she was awarded a Grammy in the United States, much to the pride of South Africa. She continued her fight against racial discrimination, and due to her political nomadism became a naturalized citizen of Guinea as well as Algeria before moving to Belgium. It was not until the 90s that her heart would bring her back to South Africa, at the urging of Nelson Mandela.
There are people who do not leave you indifferent, and leave an indelible mark with their strength of character and determination.
“Her music inspired a powerful feeling of hope in all of us.” Nelson Mandela
