Chériff BAKALA
Author, singer, actor & stage director

Chériff received a creative grant in partnership with the Atelier des Artistes en Exil.

What is your artistic background ?
My artistic journey is rich in twists and turns. I started to love art as a child, probably because my father worked in radio, he was a famous sound engineer in my country, Congo, and I immersed myself in it without realizing. I went from being a young writer-poet to an artist practicing the performing arts: rap, slam, pop, folk music and acting. Coming from Brazzaville, I have collaborated with groups like Légitime Brigade, FB Stars, Collectif 109, Dyna Max (USA), Didier Awadi (Senegal). Today I also define myself as a versatile artist: author, singer, actor and director. From street music to MTN Zik Stars (a reality show in which I participated in 2009), I continued to develop my craft; I highlighted creations such as: Martin Luther King, Apostle of Nonviolence (2012), Sony the Hydrogen Bomb (2014), Viva Mandela (2018), then I participated in the festival Les Étonnants Voyageurs (2013). I have been in residency at the Théâtre Sainte Marie d'En-Bas in Grenoble (June 2021), at La Chartreuse d'Avignon (December 2021) and at the festival Les Détours de Babel (April 2022). Today, I'm on a writing residency in Dijon following the Pause program grant where I lead different workshops at ENSA Dijon Art and Design, and the same program will apply at ESM Dijon. In between, I love sharing, the relationship, hence my involvement in the animation of writing workshops in rap/slam for young people and adults in partnership with various associations in France.

How do you view your profession today ?
I feel in perfect harmony with myself, trying to obtain results in the revival and the writing of my projects, in the artistic collaborations. Being a man who likes a challenge, I try to go as far as possible, trusting different partners like the workshop of artists in exile. The key word is to go beyond one's borders and limits, to make artistic encounters, to write, to declaim, to share, with basic principles coming from my culture. Cultivate peace, smile, form relationships...

How do you see yourself in 5 years ? In 10 years ?
I can't know what the future consists of, even with an idea of projection into the future, because life or a professional career, as an artist, is full of surprises. On the other hand, being positive is key to being in this momentum of exchanges, sharing, visions, travel. So, for the next 5 or 10 years, I wish to continue on this artistic highway by passing on my experiences.

This interview was conducted in 2022
Photography credit : Julie Glassberg