On the occasion of our exhibition »Beat the Silence: Sonic Chonicles« in spring 2025 the audience had the chance to join an opening performance by the poet, rapper, Pan-African activist, designer and filmmaker Elom Kossi Khaunbiow aka Elom 20ce from Lomé, Togo – our Artist-in-Residence for this project. In his multidisciplinary work, Elom 20ce uses music to create a connection between the political and the spiritual by stimulating the senses. Following his musical ceremony he got into a personal conversation with Musa Okwonga – journalist, author and musician himself – about his calling, destiny and musical influences.
Excerpt from the talk:
Musa Okwonga:
How would you describe what you just gave us? Because I feel like we can't call that a performance - it felt like an offering. How would you call the show you just gave us tonight?
Elom 20ce:
For me it was a ritual and a ceremony. Where I'm from, you don't just do art for art, there’s always something behind it. I don't know if you heard it: Today a solar eclipse happened, and it seems like there is something shifting in the world. I believe that this is no coincidence. For me, a ceremony pulls us together. It reminds us of what love is. Love is beautiful, love is strong and if you love each other, this values.
Musa Okwonga:
I love the message, but also, I love the description of the ceremony. But all ceremonies need preparation. How did you prepare to get yourself ready, mentally, spiritually, for tonight's ceremony? What was your process?
Elom 20ce:
The process is not something I seek to master. I think it transcends me. I think the day I decided to share my art in terms of music, video, lyrics, fashion, or whatever you call it, it is a process just to remind us of who we are. There's nothing that you „get“ when you prepare for a show, it’s daily life. For me, it's not about what you do to go on stage, it's how you live every day. I'm a storyteller, I try to tell stories and most of these stories are real stories.
My people are not just people from Africa but also people from Europe, people from Asia and more. My people are people who still believe that we can do something great on earth. The energy is coming from there. And the energy also is coming from the ancestors. Because I never dreamed of being an artist, that was never the plan. I was supposed to be a lawyer. But I ended up doing art. Sometimes it’s not just about what you study, but it's about your destiny.
Musa Okwonga:
One thing that's very clear from your work is the emphasis on struggle, momentum. And that doesn't come without a cost. You need a high amount of energy. Where do you get your energy to maintain this struggle? From where do you draw all of that?
Elom 20ce:
The love of my people. And when I say love of my people, it's the love of the people who can see beauty in everything. My people are not just people from Africa but also people from Europe, people from Asia and more. My people are people who still believe that we can do something great on earth. The energy is coming from there. And the energy also is coming from the ancestors. Because I never dreamed of being an artist, that was never the plan. I was supposed to be a lawyer. But I ended up doing art. Sometimes it’s not just about what you study, but it's about your destiny. Sometimes I feel like I’m on a mission. I feel like it is not just a coincidence that we are here. I think there is something bigger than us. When we are doing stuff like this, there is a force in us, that moves me.
Musa Okwonga:
What do you feel your destiny is and how far do you feel you are fulfilling it, achieving it?
Elom 20ce:
I don’t want to ask myself that question, to be honest with you. I just know that I'm here in Hamburg and I don't fight to be here. I feel like sometimes something attracts you. You cannot lie to yourself. You can lie to people. But there's a space in our heart that only you by yourself can go to. And when I go there, there is a voice, a very nice and sweet voice telling me that this is the path to go and not to worry.
Musa Okwonga:
There is a real freshness to what you produce. The thing I love about listening to your albums is you have this homage to the nineties, but it also feels new. You have this love of French styles, of American tradition, but also your roots. How did you find your sound? Was there a philosophy or was it more „I'll just go with what feels right in the moment“?
Elom 20ce:
I don’t want to do music for a moment. I want to do music that people, even in 100 years, can still listen to. I don't want to do something because this is what people are doing right now. Because for me, we are not creating something really new. You build something upon something: Something exists already and from that you create something new. For me, the process is about how I can do the music that I love. I love the music of the nineties, but at the same time, I ask myself „I am coming from Africa, so what can I add to it?“ I must go to my roots. I consider my music as „Rhythm & Roots“. You have the roots, which is about the traditional, not instrumental per se, but the traditional way of doing it. And then you have the rhythm of Boom Bap, of the hip hop that I love. Thus, I just try to mix the two.
Musa Okwonga:
One thing we must talk about is the style. Everything you do is done with great intention and choice, and I know there is a lot of thinking that went into what you wear tonight, so take us through it. What was the choice behind your outfit? The hair dress, the wristband, etc. What was the choice behind what you wore tonight?
Elom 20ce:
The outfit comes from Nigeria. The mask is from Benin, Ouidah, to be precise. And the wristband is from Ethiopia. The first time I saw it, I thought it must have belonged to an emperor (those who fought against colonial invaders). And that's how I feel when I wear it. And I love being barefoot on stage. Because I want to feel the soil. The connection is different when I have shoes on than when I go barefoot because then I can feel the energy of the place.
Musa Okwonga:
Listen, you are very busy man, a brilliant artist! Thank you for making the time, we really appreciate it! A warm round of applause for you, thank you for coming.
We would like to thank Stiftung Kunstfonds and Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien for its generous support of the exhibition project as well as the Rudolf Augstein Foundation and the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media and furthermore, the Deutsche Stiftung für Engagement und Ehrenamt, whose 100xDigital funding program made it possible to expand our digital archive with this journal entry.