I EXIST – nach Rajasthan

   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 

Indian and European musicians embark on a road trip through Rajasthan. Together they explore the mythical origins and ancient tales of the Sinti and Romani.

The album is about survival and the strength that allowed Sinti and Romani to endure despite centuries of hostility and attempts at extermination in the Third Reich. Contemporary and traditional Indian music as well as interview excerpts and field recordings from the joint research trip are the basis for unique performances and improvisations.

... it feels... like a disassembled jigsaw puzzle... all my life I'm trying to put it back together...
Damian Le Bas

Ancient tales describe the origin of the Romani from Rajasthan. For the avant-garde musician Iva Bittová and the artist duo Damian and Delaine Le Bas, the encounter with this legendary origin also means a movement back to a part of their origin. The journey into the foreign becomes a journey into their own existence.

I EXIST - a travel diary by Nataly Bleuel

Damian Le Bas already fell by the wayside before the others got to the Sun Gate. The Sun Gate lay on the other side of the vast square, with the September sun blazing down on it. It lay across the entrance gate and below the stairs that were leading up to the inside of Amber Fort. Where the monkeys squatted and munched on the orange chrysanthemums given to tourists as necklaces. Damian was still standing outside the front gate. As though paralyzed by one of the souvenir vendors, he was staring at the elephant pattern on the small bags the vendor held under his nose. Was his gaze one of longing? Or slightly melancholy, as it was most of the time? Sad perhaps? It was, in any case, the kind of gaze a street vendor could immediately interpret as: There's something to get from this man! It was from the Sun Gate that the Mughals looked out over their empire in Rajasthan as early as 400 years ago, and their empire did not end at the walls that wound over the mountain ridges on the horizon. Now, Damian's travel group stood in the Sun Gate, sweat on their foreheads, hot as hell, fanning themselves.

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