The beginning:

In august 2000, Arthur Rathbone Pullen visited Kenya on a family holiday. A chance meeting with the Duruma Cultural Dancers (a group of musicians from the Duruma sub-tribe of the Mijikenda tribe whos territory covers most of the Kenyan coast), marked the beginning of a broad and ambitious ongoing project whose aim is to preserve and promote traditional cultures and musics from around the world. Struck not only by the complex beauty of the music, but by the way of life that the Durumas sometimes enjoyed, and sometimes endured, he had agreed to return to the Duruma village to learn more about their music.

It was five years before Arthur was able to return to Kenya. In the interim he studied music at the University of Liverpool, then worked in the pro-audio industry until he had accumulated sufficient funds and equipment to undertake the next part of the project.

Stage 2:

Having lost touch with the Duruma musicians due to changes of address at both ends, Arthur's return to Kenya was as unpredictable as it was bold. Having nurtured a fascination with music from around the world, his plan was to locate not only the Duruma musicians, but to begin making field recordings of music from different parts of Kenya to preserve it and to use it as a source of inspiration for his own work.

Arthur travelled from town to town, village to village, with 42 kilos of equipment, clothing, and tent on his back. It was never long before conversations with the locals exposed their knowledge of nearby exponents of traditional music, and it was in this way that a veritable catalogue of recordings accumulated.

Before long, his initial plans seemed inadequate. It was apparent that that the recording of this music for posterity was not necessary or particularly useful. Kenyan libraries and museum archives are well laden with audio and video recordings of a wide range of cultural musics and practices, but what good does that music do when it is gathering dust on shelves in a grand old colonial basement? Preservation of this music is more than that - it involves keeping it alive, and in today's climate of development and change this has to be done with creative flare and gusto. Younger generations aren't inheriting the musical traditions that have been passed on for centuries, because there is no future in it for them. The only way to give this music a future is to create the means of forging a sustainable income through the music. Inspired by the variety of music that was still being practiced (albeit in steep decline) it became his aim to help create this source of income by producing CDs for various artists across Kenya.

The six-month expedition also heralded the beginning of film-maker/photographer William Burgess' involvement with the Kenyan project. Joining Arthur for a month, Will visited a Samburu village, taking stills as part of a research project being undertaken by a mutual friend Matthew Gibbs. Gibbs' findings will soon be available to read online.

Enter Amakula Kampala:

It was during a brief break from the hectic schedule of travel and recording that Arthur happened upon the Amakula Kampala film festival in Uganda. Bumping into Lee Ellickson (one of the festival's organisers) Arthur described the nature of the project, and exchanged contacts with a view to potentially involving some of the Kenyan musicians in the following year's festival.

After six months Arthur returned to the UK to begin the task of producing and promoting the recordings. He set up Faustuss International, the company through which all of the music would be promoted. In the midsts of the mammoth task of processing all of the recordings and setting up the company, Arthur recalled his conversation with Lee at the festival. Writing a brief email in early March, Arthur suggested the possibility of doing something at Amakula Kampala 2006. The response was positive, though the festival had been shifted from September to May for 2006!

The following two months were amongst the most hectic imaginable. Arthur immediately called Will and asked if he'd be willing to come to Kenya/Uganda to document the events on film. Within a few days they were both in it up to their necks. The theme of Amakula Kampala 2006 was voices, and Arthur selected the most vocally impressive groups with whom he had worked, assembling a proposed touring party of 38 musicians. It being too late to seek serious funding, the pair were steeped in the task of raising sponsorship to help with the production costs. From sponsorship forms to carboot sales, and with a lot of help from their friends they were soon in a position to undertake the journey, enlisting Ricky Russell (a London musician, and UK Faustuss artist) as a third crew member. With the help of Millicent Wanja Mureithi (a Nairobian colleague of Arthur's) Arthur organised the logistics of the 14 day expedition as far as possible in advance. Suddenly, May was upon them!

Production:

The schedule was physically and emotionally demanding, sometimes punishing, but overall - rewarding. The crew of three arrived in Mombasa on 02 May 2006. In the next fortnight they would have to film all of the material necessary to put together a feature-length documentary that would highlight the threats faced by traditional cultures, musics and ways of life in a country that is developing and changing at uncontrollable speeds. This would have to be done in the context of a breakneck jaunt accross the entire width of Kenya, and into Uganda's capital - Kampala. A detailed, day-by-day account of the making of the film can be found here in the form of a journal that Ricky managed to keep despite the hectic schedule.