COVID-19: Burkinabe storyteller live-streams tales

Burkinabe storyteller Kientega Pingdéwindé Gérard known as KPG took to live-streaming to tell his tales to an online audience.

It follows curfews and lockdown imposed by some African governments to curb spread of COVID-19.

[Extract from a story] ‘‘Paneyam journeys through the Naksinin Mountains from east to west in search of the precious red laterite, the earth rich in iron ore. From the forge to the mountains, the road is long and the journey demanding.”

“We can’t even play shows all over the world anymore, all the shows have been cancelled, and all the groups have been cancelled. We decided at the same time to find another way to be able to always share moments with our audience with, as the musicians say, our fans”, KPG said.

KPG is hoping that his narratives will help entertain and distract people from the disturbing news about the coronavirus while maintaining the culture of oral storytelling.

“So that we can take advantage of these moments here, these moments of storytelling to travel in our imaginations and forget the problems we are going through today, that’s one of the reasons why I didn’t want to tell stories related to current events to take people away from the news and also think differently about life”, the storyteller added.

KPG says because there are no platforms to tell his stories, it is imperative to continue so as not to loose touch with the culture of storytelling.

He hopes this new trend of transmitting his messages will help safeguard African values and history.

AFP