Journalist at RFI (ex-DW, BBC, CBC, F24...), writer (on art, music, culture...), I work in radio, podcasting, online, on films.
As a writer, I also contributed to the New Arab, Art UK, Byline Times, the i Paper...
Born in Paris, I was based in Prague, Miami, London, Nairobi (covering East Africa), Bangui, and in Bristol, UK. I also reported from Italy, Germany, Haiti, Tunisia, Liberia, Senegal, India, Mexico, Iraq, South Africa...
This blog is to share my work, news and cultural discoveries.
Aux origines du genre "Trip-Hop": de la naissance du son d'une ville, Bristol
Une conférence de Melissa Chemam
Melissa Chemam, qui a passé plusieurs années à Bristol pour l'écriture de son livre En dehors de la zone de confort (éditions Anne Carrière), raconte la naissance d'une musique qui a changé la bande son de la fin du 20e siècle.
Baptisée 'Bristol Sound' ou 'trip-hop', le son de Bristol mêle une base hip-hop et rap avec un groove soul et des rythmes venus du reggae, saupoudrée d'influences comme le post-punk et la musique électronique.
Si tout commence en 1989/1990 avec l'album Blue Lines de Massive Attack, ce son a fermenté pendant des années d'expérimentation au sein de la scène underground de Bristol où graffeurs et rappeurs se mêlaient dans un melting pot culturel créé par des décennies de migrations. Massive Attack a depuis influencé largement la scène musicale, de Tricky à Portishead, mais aussi de Londres et bien au-delà. Leur leader, qui donne peu d'interviews, est le principal personnage du livre de Mélissa Chemam, avec lequel elle a échangé et discuté pendant des mois. Une trentaine d'artistes ont également été interviewés pour retracer cette histoire.
Diplômée de l'École de journalisme de Sciences Po, Mélissa Chemam a travaillé pour France 24, la BBC, RFI, France Culture et pour des magazines dont Le Monde des Religions, la Public Art Review, Tsugi ou encore Transfuge. Elle est aujourd'hui basée en Angleterre, travaille régulièrement pour la BBC, et écrit sur l'art, la musique, les liens postcoloniaux et le changement social.
Another of these days... Where we commemorate our "heroes" and the wounds these wars have left in our lives and our continent, Europe.
While it's dividing further and further, it's hard not to be worried.
But our job is to focus on the good in people, what's been accomplished, what can change the world positively.
That's why, as a journalist, I've been really happy to be asked to work with the Royal British Legion last summer.
The campaign is out now and resonates especially in this day, 11 November.
Anita's story
Anita talks about how we helped her husband Daughter adapt to civilian life.
For more information visit www.rbl.org.uk
For any mother it can be hard when your child decides to sign up and join the military.
But for Anita it was more difficult when all three of her children signed up to join the Army in their late teens.
Three children in the Army
Anita’s eldest son Mark signed up as an Army reservist, whilst her other son Tom and daughter Becky joined the Army as Regulars.
Becky was just 19 when she signed up in 1999 after she was inspired by her brother’s passing out parade.
“I went to his pass out parade and I felt quite proud. And that's when I got my urge to join,” Becky says.
Which came as a surprise to her mum Anita.
“It was a shock because signing up is quite a big thing,” Anita says.
“I was proud that she'd found something that she wanted to do. But I was also very anxious because I know what going into the Army can mean.
“I didn’t want to discourage her, I wanted to be there for her. It’s important that whatever all three of my children have done, they know they have my support.
“Particularly with Becky, I’ve really wanted to be supportive because I could see issues that could come for her in the long term, the fact that she’s a woman going into a man’s world, what she’s signing up to is a whole new world that I’ve never been involved with," Anita adds.
“You ask yourself, should I let them go? But at the same time, they’re doing what they want to do and so my support is needed, and my encouragement, and just being there for them.
“But it is difficult because you want to be in contact with them, but you know that wherever they go, it’s not as easy as picking up the phone or popping round to see them, it’s a case of waiting to hear from them, especially in the first few weeks of going into the military.
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Liam had always wanted to join the Army.
His great grandfathers both fought in the First World War and his father served in the Paratroopers. He was captivated by their stories when he was a young boy.
Liam's story
Liam talks about how his service impacted his service.
For more information visit: www.rbl.org.uk
“It's just something I always wanted to do. It was one of those things the money's good, you meet new people and you get to go around the world.”
“The Army was always the path I wanted to follow and I never envisaged doing anything else from a young age,” he said.
Liam joined the Army in 2002 and served with a cavalry regiment - the Light Dragoons - deciding not to follow his fathers’ footsteps as he “didn't fancy jumping out of aeroplanes.”
He was deployed to Iraq in 2005 and then Afghanistan in 2007.
“I don’t think I appreciated emotionally how it affected everyone at home,” Liam says.
“My dad had been in the army so I assumed my dad would be cool with it, he’d understand because he lived the life, but I’m an only child and he sent his only son off to go and do the job he’d been doing for the last 20 years.
“I don’t think I appreciated how hard it hit my mum until very recently, until I had my son. It’s hard to talk to my mum about it because I know it affected my mum quite hard and I don’t think I ever really appreciated that.”
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Linda's story
Linda talks about how we helped her husband Mike, and their family.
For more information visit: www.rbl.org.uk
Life as a military wife
Linda Kiff’s first experience of life in the military was when she married her husband Mike after they met while he was on leave in her hometown of Bournemouth. The couple married in 2006 and have two children.
It can be difficult for people to relate to the struggles faced by military families.
The months away from loved ones, the worry of those left behind. Unless you’ve been there, it can be hard to fully understand.
"My first encounter of the military was through Mike and being his wife. It was definitely a different experience to what I ever thought it would be,” Linda says. “I suppose I didn't really know what to expect.”
“I’d never had a military background, I knew nothing. Mike came from a military background with his father being in the services.
“I had no idea how quick changing it is, how you can have a friend one minute, someone that you would happily talk to for hours and then that persons gone… because they’ve moved to somewhere and you can’t get hold of them.”
Mike’s time in the Army saw him deployed to the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan and for a time the family were based in Germany. It was there that reality hit for Linda, that life as a military family abroad would be very different.
“I think it really hit home when we got to Germany. When he went away for months on end with all his training for Afghanistan. He'd been away before, but it was never a month away then back home for a day then another month away," Linda says.
“The community for the children I could never say anything bad about. But I think for women, for the mums and of course some dads left behind, I think it can be tricky because you just don't know what to do.
“You just wait. As much as the day continues, every day you go to bed wondering, am I going to get a message? Am I going to get a phone call? Is someone going to knock on my door?
“There’s a lot of questions going through your head whilst you’re thinking that you just want your loved one home.”
Linda Lorin nous emmène à la découverte de notre patrimoine artistique, culturel et naturel. Dans ce numéro : À Bristol, Banksy fait le mur - Irréductibles chrétiens turcs de Mardin - L’aveuglante beauté de Ceylan.
À Bristol, Banksy fait le mur À Bristol, les murs ont des airs de musée à ciel ouvert. Graffs, collages, pochoirs : les façades de la ville ont révélé l’irrévérencieux Banksy, qui y a grandi. Le mystérieux artiste a puisé dans l’histoire de l’ancien port négrier et son identité métissée de quoi nourrir une œuvre à part.
Tamino - 'Every Pore' (Live at Jet Studio ft. Nagham Zikrayat Orchestra)
Lyrics:
Darling, be by the door
Let your heart in, and I’ll kiss every pore
If I could always have you around
There’s a tune here, but it has no sound
But your heart is where mine lies
Darling just calm me with your voice
Let your heart sing, how I always enjoy
When you say 'always' is not a word
You think love is a bit absurd
But your heart is where mine lies - Listen to 'Every Pore' on the Deluxe edition of Tamino's debut album 'Amir' here: https://tamino.lnk.to/AmirDLX
This video shows Banksy painting his stencils on the "segregation"/separation wall, which separates Israel from Palestine:
We'll talk about more in details on Saturday, 9 November, at La Colonie, Paris 10e.
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Samedi 915h30 à 18h
Border Wall Aesthetics - Œuvres d'art dans les espaces frontaliers
30 ans après la chute du mur de Berlin, nous vivons à l'ère de la mondialisation et du libre-échange. Néanmoins, 70 nouveaux murs frontaliers ont été construits au cours de cette période - ensemble, ils couvriraient la circonférence totale de la Terre. Mais est-ce seulement l'attrait de la transgression qui les attire - ou y a-t-il une signification plus profonde dans la rencontre artistique avec les murs de la frontière ?
Avec Elisa Ganivet, Melissa Chemam (journaliste, auteure de En dehors de la zone de confort, De Massive Attack à Banksy, l’histoire d’un groupe d’artistes, de leur ville, Bristol, et de leurs révolutions) et Marco Godinho (artiste).
Je quitte l'ouest anglais pour un petit tour de 5 jours en France, avec en fin de semaine, cette rencontre à Lorient :
Mélissa Chemam : de la naissance du son d’une ville, Bristol
Traverser la Manche et écouter Bristol.
Melissa Chemam qui a passé plusieurs années à Bristol pour l’écriture de son livre En dehors de la zone de confort (Éditions Anne Carrière), racontera la naissance d’une musique qui a changé la bande son de la fin du 20e siècle.
Baptisé ’Bristol Sound’ ou ’trip-hop’, le son de Bristol mêle une base hip-hop et rap avec un groove soul et des rythmes venus du reggae, saupoudrée d’influences comme le post-punk et la musique électronique. Si tout commence en 1989/1990 avec l’album Blue Line de Massive Attack, ce son a fermenté pendant des années d’expérimentation au sein de la scène underground de Bristol où graffeurs et rappeurs se mêlaient dans un melting pot culturel créé par des décennies de migrations.
Massive Attack a depuis influencé largement la scène musicale, de Tricky à Portishead, mais aussi de Londres et bien au-delà. Leur leader, qui donne peu d’interviews, est le principal personnage du livre de Mélissa Chemam, avec lequel elle a échangé et discuté pendant des mois. Une trentaine d’artistes ont également été interviewés pour retracer cette histoire.
Diplômée de l’École de journalisme de Sciences Po, Mélissa Chemam a travaillé pour France 24, la BBC, RFI, France Culture et pour des magazines dont Le Monde des Religions, la Public Art Review, Tsugi ou encore Transfuge. Elle est aujourd’hui basée en Angleterre, travaille régulièrement pour la BBC, et écrit sur l’art, la musique, les liens postcoloniaux et le changement social.
You need a subscription to read the content but it's really worth it.
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Here is an introduction to my first story for them...
SEAMUS MURPHY TOOK PJ HARVEY ON THE ROAD… AND THE RESULT IS BRILLIANTLY UNIQUE
By Melissa Chemam
Irish photographer and filmmaker Seamus Murphy had a flawless career in photojournalism that took him all over the world, from Afghanistan to the Balkans and more recently Syria.
Then one day a musician crossed his path and they decided to work together. He hadn’t listened to her music much… but she was very keen to try collaborating.
That musician was PJ Harvey and their work gave a few unexpected promo music videos (in 2010) and now a music documentary. ‘A Dog Called Money’ is much more that a music film though, it is a film about creativity, this troubled world and about how we learn to relate to one another.
A profoundly touching and reflective piece of work.
I spoke to Seamus just before the cinema release on 1st November.
We were not allowed to take photos but Tricky came to his hometown, Bristol, today for a book signing:
After the signing, we had an hour for a proper chat. I was great to meet with him for another interview! Especially here in Bristol, after two others in Paris.
Article(s)/Interview(s) to come soon... The book is great, and comes out on 31 October 2019. What would you ask him if you interviewed Tricky?
The opposition has hardly tried to respond to this crisis. According to me, the UK should have a unity/transition government until it solves this utterly tragic attempt at self-destruction. Exit or not...
The referendum was illegally won. The result is not legitimate. It’s not possible to hold free & fair election. Opposition totally failed to hold PM & his advisor to account. Right-wing press has buried it. And kindest thing to say about BBC is it cocked up. This is not democracy
If we had a functioning opposition, it would demand:
1) urgent overhaul of electoral law as top priority
2) demand govt insist Zuck comes to UK to give evidence
3) ban microtargeted political ads until FB can demonstrate safe
4) demand answers from Johnson re Vote Leave fraud
5) demand Johnson send Cummings to DCMS
6) demand proof from govt that its deliberate conspiracy to illegally overspend in last days had no impact on result
7) if evidence not forthcoming demand govt acknowledge it has no mandate for Brexit & must go to the people again
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And a few words from an exceptional elected US representing:
Here’s what we know:
- Zuckerberg ”doesn’t know” when he/FB discovered the Cambridge Analytica scandal. That is hard to believe.
- After Zuck privately met w/ Trump & far-right, he’s now allowing paid disinformation ads.
- He didn’t tell the whole truth abt his “fact checkers”
