Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Music is the weapon of the future
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the musician born in Nigeria (1938), was a household name by the late 1970s and played countless international tours until his death in 1997.
The musical genre that Fela developed – “afrobeat” – is rooted in a mixture of influences, from Yoruba rhythms to free jazz with elements of soul and funk. The origins of the constantly evolving style also owe much to West-African high-life with significant use of brass and percussion, as seen in the Afrobeat of Fela’s first band, Koola Lobitos.
With his subsequent bands Africa 70 and Egypt 80, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti surrounded himself with a growing number of musicians, producing increasingly complex symphonic works as he did.
This exhibition traces his path, presenting the artist’s musical development and highlighting and sharing the sources of and changes in Afrobeat.
