BIOGRAPHIE

Phenomenal collective of nine female artists who channel emancipation through music. The unique group of women came together thanks to the  support of Chadian electronic music artist Afrotronix. What makes them different? They are the embodiment of the aunties,   pillars of the great African family, who toil in the background, day in day out, far from the limelight. Spurred into action by a desire to change the prevailing male mindset, the Aunties hold to an entirely different position for women. They want to be free of the constraints of tradition, which all too often confine them to the role of wife and domestic servant. On the touching song, “Kla Nga”, release on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2023, they sing in unison, a feminist call from the heart. In solidarity with the cause of all women, these artists are all the more credible for having personally survived gender-based violence. Some have even lost custody of their children, but these Aunties have risen to these challenges with music there to help them.

As agents of change, Les Aunties are ageless and marvel at their own strengths and daring. In their native Sara language, these modern Chadian griots demand equal rights for women. Their uplifting melodies, faithful to tradition, resound like odes to joy. Beating on calabashes, a sacred gourd instrument, they sing out their cry for emancipation. One member, singer-songwriter Somte, tells her own story to raise awareness for those who cannot speak. With a single online album to date, IYA, the collective’s reach is astounding. Les Aunties have also dazzled crowds in Cameroon at the Institute Française in Douala and on the Esplanade of the Musée National in Yaoundé. Their first appearance in Québec will also be a call to the warrior woman, with no other credo than the inalienable right of self-determination.