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DID you know that Scotland’s founding
mother was black? No? Well, not only does the 1320 Declaration of
Arbroath detail far-flung connections, but mythology also tells of Scota,
a Pharaoh’s daughter, who was married in Spain to the exiled Prince
Gathelus, the leader of a migrant people. Gathelus’s travels took them
to Scotland - named in honour of his love for Scota. Some versions of
events also link the pair with the Stone of Destiny. Scota, some sources
say, was North African - and would therefore have been black.
Scota’s story is one of many to be told in Ancestral Voices, a show that
combines song, dance and theatre to encapsulate 1,000 years of Scottish
black identity. It is the brainchild of the Scottish Black Arts Forum -
theatre director Aileen Ritchie, choreographer Rosina Bonsu, Soma
Records’ Jim Muotune, Amu Gift-Logotse, an African performing artist,
and jazz star, Suzanne Bonnar.
It’s not the first time Bonnar has gone in search of her roots. The
Dunoon-born singer famously went on a very public pilgrimage in 1993 TV
documentary The Blacksburg Connection, to find her father, James D Wade.
For Bonnar, Ancestral Voices meant taking this process a step further.
"It’s all a journey, to explore another part of me," she says. "I think
the connection at the end of it is Africa - I’ve never been to Africa,
but that, in a sense, is where it all started."
Bonnar believes African and Scottish people have much in common. The
main theme of Ancestral Voices, she says, is that African people came to
Britain through choice, not under duress, through slavery or asylum. The
four performers have drawn on personal experiences, something Bonnar
believes brings variety to the piece. "Probably Jim and myself bring
more of a Scottishness to it because we were brought up here. Obviously,
there’s the female perspective, and Jim - being the young media mogul
who’s into technology - brings a different slant again. There are
elements of history, film, documentation - myself and my daughter up in
the Highlands. We’ve used our own stories, experience of racism, the
weather, what it’s like being in Scotland, what home means."
Wary of tubthumping, Bonnar sees Ancestral Voices as a way of raising
the profile of black culture in Scotland. She is scathing about the lack
of opportunities for black actors. "Look at BBC Scotland - what is there
if you don’t fall into the stereotypical Chewin’ the Fat character?" she
says. "Even in soaps or Scottish drama. I don’t know if people are aware
of it."
Bonnar stresses the show is for everyone. "I think it’s a refreshing
piece; it’s really interesting hearing other people’s stories. Hopefully
people will enjoy the honesty and integrity. It’s not about preaching.
There’s one race, the human race, and we are more alike than we realise;
it’s about shared experience."
Ancestral Voices is at The Arches, Glasgow, 21-23 March.
Tanya Dawn McLellan
Wednesday, 13th March 2002
The Scotsman |
