LA MUSIQUE AUTREMENT Nothing makes more sense than comparing the musical instruments that Kan Chan Kin creates from recycled materials or from trash to toys – the feeling of wonder, never far from that of childhood, is indeed at the very heart of his many creative endeavours. Comparer les instruments de musique que Kan Chan Kin crée à base de matériaux récupérés ou de déchets à des jouets, c’est faire une comparaison heureuse : la notion d’émerveillement, jamais loin de celle de l’enfance, est bien au cœur de sa démarche créative. BY LISA DUCASSE PHOTOGRAPHS KARL AHNEE If Kan Chan Kin at first practiced music as a DJ, he eventually stepped away, aged 25, from a world he no longer considered his own, and turned instead to the practice of traditional and acoustic instruments. The first instrument he made himself was a didgeridoo, for the simple reason that finding one in Mauritius had proved impossible at the time. In parallel to his growing explorations in the realm of instrument-making, he started to get involved in cultural activism, along with other militant artists who, as a response to the prevailing political inertia, set about a series of actions meant to raise awareness on the issue of pollution. Among these were workshops led by Kan for making simple instruments out of trash or reused waste. The public’s response was unanimously enthusiastic– after all, isn’t taking something existing and transforming it into something new the very essence of magic? RECYCLING AS ART Thus was born Trash to music, at first taking the shape of a show put up with Mauritian singer Emlyn, then a documentary, and finally, an immersive exhibition financed by the French Press Association (AFP), which was held over a period of several months at the Caudan Arts Centre in Port Louis. The exhibition was thought out as a living and deliberately lively space, a kind of playground where musicians and non-musicians alike could meet regularly, to play together and try their hand at instrument-making. Kan worked on creating this exhibition in between numerous workshops and demonstrations held in schools and some of the island’s biggest companies. His wish was for people to make each of the instruments present their own – to interact with them, befriend them– and for the pleasure born from these discoveries to bring about, in turn, new creations. A UNIQUE KIND OF DIALOGUE The same wish for (re)discovery is at the root of his association with Mauritian band Patyatann, whose use of traditional instruments of local and foreign origin has contributed to bringing said instruments to light. The same goes for an international project such as Small Island Big Song, which claims the importance of cultural transmission and symbiosis. Out of Kan’s dialogue with the many instruments he meets or makes always emerges a better understanding of the context they originated from. Far from perceiving music as having a purely recreational function, Kan, who describes himself as “constantly curious”, likes to understand why and how each instrument was played in older cultures, and how they fit into the rites and daily life of past communities. As he rightly underlines, everything we perceive as “traditional” was once “modern” for its own contemporaries. The game is therefore to be a part of the tradition that is being written in the here and now – a tradition navigating counter to any attempt at standardisation, solidly anchored to better set sail. IT’S YOUR TURN TO PLAY! Right now at L’Aventure du Sucre, where an exhibition* on sustainability is being held, bearing the shape of an imaginary house to wander in, two of Kan’s creations can be found… in the playroom, of course. The artist is also currently writing a one-of-its-kind manual Kan Chan Kin MUSIC, DIFFERENTLY
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