Global artists at the Edinburgh Festivals

The Cultural Frontline

This week we hear from some of the international artists who’ve been taking part at this year’s Edinburgh Festivals. It’s the world’s biggest arts festival, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

Aboriginal Australian William Barton is an award winning composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and one of the country’s leading didgeridoo players. His music has been performed from the Beijing Olympics to Westminster Abbey in London and he tells Tina Daheley about the language of this ancient traditional instrument and how he blends it with European classical music.

Scottish writer Uma Nada-Rajah’s play Exodus is set against the backdrop of a UK Conservative party leadership contest. In Uma’s all female version, we met a would be Prime Minister who’s staging a photo opportunity under the white cliffs of Dover to launch her anti-immigration policy, when a body washes up. Uma Nada-Rajah told Kate Molleson about the inspiration behind her topical satire.

In the 1994 Rwandan genocide, an estimated 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by dominant Hutu forces in 100 days. For her piece, The Book of Life, Rwandan playwright and director Odile Gakire Katese, known as Kiki Katese, tells the story of that conflict through the letters of ordinary Rwandans. She tells us why she feels that the arts can help to bring reconciliation to the country.

Circus Abyssinia is the first all Ethiopian Circus troupe. Created by two brothers, Bibi and Bichu, their latest show, called Tulu, is inspired by the Ethiopian runner Derartu Tulu. She won the 10,000 meters in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the first black African woman to win Olympic gold. Bibi and Bichu spoke to The Cultural Frontline’s Andrea Kidd and explained why they wanted to portray her story through circus skills.

(Photo: An aerial silk performer from Circus Abyssinia. Credit: David Rubene Photography)