Aiming to revive the art of drumming

Drumming in Guyana has been considered a dying art, but recently, many organisations have been collaborating to resuscitate an art form considered a vital part of Guyana’s cultural heritage.
The African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) with a grant of G$1M from the Cultural Centre of the IDB in Washington D.C., is collaborating with the donor organisation to revive drumming in Guyana.
The drum is one of the central components of African culture, with Africans called the “Children of the Drum”. Africa is considered a “drum continent” because nowhere else in the world and on no other continent can there be found a larger diversity of drums.

There are at least 3,000 distinct ethnic groups or tribes in Africa who speak more than 2,000 languages and dialects. The drum is considered “the unifying language” of the continent, and drums play a significant role in most ethnic groups.
African drums have three very distinct and different roles: they are musical instruments, ceremonial objects and a means of physical and spiritual communication. The drum beat in Africa is heard every day for communication, celebration or fun.
On a spiritual level, drums are central to everyday life in Africa. The drums range from everyday objects with monumental, simple forms to ornate pieces, bringing status to the owner, connoting power and the honouring of ancestors.
Music and drums are almost always an accompaniment for any manner of ceremony in Africa. Drums are used in healing, rites of passage, and naming ceremonies. They are also used in warrior rituals, on social occasions such as engagement parties and weddings, in harvest parties, during libation ceremonies, and in the celebration of major life impacting events such as the arrival of rain after a long period of drought.
ACDA realised drumming was a dying art in Guyana during the United Nations International Year for People of African Descent in 2011. Contributing factors included the death of older artists, the lack of drums, and the lack of drumming teachers.
In Berbice, drummers resided only in Weldaad and New Amsterdam. On the Essequibo Coast, there was a single family: a father, two sons and a daughter, who practiced the art. In Demerara, where more than 40 percent of African-Guyanese reside, there has been a revival in Buxton where a group called Buxton Fusion has been active for the last 4 years. In Linden, there is also a group called Flame of the Heart, which is determined to keep the art alive. In Georgetown, four groups, led by Majek Fingers Drumming Group and the National Dance School, which have some African drummers, have all joined in the revival fight.
Only Majek Fingers has Djembe drums for its members. The Djembe date back to at least 500 A.D. and is the most influential and basic of all African drums. Today, they can be found extensively in Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast, Guinea, Gambia and Burkina Faso, as a sacred drum used in healing ceremonies, rites of passage, ancestral worship, warrior rituals, as well as social dances.
In the past, after Emancipation in 1838 and today in modern times, drums are handmade with goat skin and local materials. Even the drum makers are diminishing.
In 2012, ACDA wanted to create a drum renaissance in Guyana, and especially to have this revival during its 20th anniversary this year; the organisation views drumming as a central feature of its annual Aug. 1 Emancipation festival.
A few years back, ACDA was hard-pressed to find drumming groups to participate in events when asked by schools, groups, businesses, ministries, and local communities.
The “Drum Renaissance Programme” came to fruition after being funded by the IDB’s Cultural Centre in Washington, administered through its local office by Ava Yarde.
This project has several goals: to resuscitate drumming in Guyana and in villages; ensure key cultural activities are spearheaded by drumming corporations; to establish three drum centres in Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo to teach drumming as well as the history of the drum; introducing the art and love for drumming in selected schools in the three counties; hold a drum competition at the upcoming Emancipation Day festivities; to establish an annual drummer’s conference to bring “elder” drummers throughout Guyana together; establish an annual national drum making competition to generate interest and to create the first set of local drums for the African Museum, and to establish a drum museum at ACDA’s Thomas Lands head office.
In Berbice, the “drum revival” project has been led by the Sea View Cultural Organisation of Hope Town. It was founded by Muhammed Tufail who used his home as the hub for the revival. This organisation, led by many community elders, has revitalised the community through its youths. Group members are exposed to drumming, dancing, literature and cultural lessons.
There is also the Sankofa Drumming Group in Essequibo led by Mr McKenzie who teaches classes at Anna Regina and Queenstown several times a week, and hopes to expand his programme to Dartmouth.
ACDA would hire three drumming teachers, who will be engaged in a full one-year drive to reintroduce drumming as an integral part of Guyana’s African culture. It plans to engage the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in this endeavour. It also seeks to obtain a corporate sponsor to get this project going.
The strategy is to have the “drum masters” teach others in their designated communities, so that both a cadre of young drummers would be nurtured as well as bring about a collaboration of “elder” drummers, who can share their knowledge and expertise.
By having a drum master in each county and by getting them involved with schools, villages and cultural organisations countrywide, ACDA hopes that the overall benefit would be a revival of drumming in each county that eventually leads to regional drumming clubs throughout Guyana. (Information by Eric Phillips)