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- The Thunder Beats of Nanyang Wushu Drums opened the concert with their thunderous beats.
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- Festival revellers enjoying the Whirling Dervish dances from Broukar.
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- Broukar’s dancer Ahmad Alkhatib stole the show with his impressive rotation.
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- The laid-back crowd of RWMF
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- Dr Sim (left) and Masing were also seen attending the final night of RWMF 2016. — Photos by Muhammad Rais Sanusi and Patricia Hului
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- Violons Barbares members who hailed from Bulgaria, France and Mongolia gave an astounding show to remember.
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- Chouk Bwa Libete percussionist moving to the beats of Haitian Voodoo.
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- A member of Chouk Bwa Libete brought some Voodoo music to the stage of RWMF.
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- A member of Auli drumming one of the biggest tree trunk drums in the Baltic region at the stage of RWMF.
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- The final bow down had all of the performers and volunteers of RWMF 2016 dancing and waving to the audience one last time.
KUCHING: The final day of Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) saw an international line-up crammed with sounds from seven different countries.
The 19th edition of the festival had The Thunder Beats of Nanyang Wushu Drums (Sarawak), Broukar (Syria), Violons Barbares (Bulgaria, Mongolia, France), Chouk Bwa Libete (Haiti), Gendang Melayu Sri Buana (Sarawak) and Auli (Latvia) killing the stage of Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) last Sunday night.
Twelve drums representing the twelve months of a year from The Thunder Beats of Nanyang Wushu Drums opened the night with their roaring beats.
Datuk Song Swee Hee of Nanyang Wushu Federation of Sarawak orchestrated their choreography.
Festival revellers were then taken to war-torn country of Syria through the classical Arab and Syrian music presented by Broukar.
Taufik Mirkhan, the leader of the band, shared it was their sheer hope to be able to teach their traditional music to the younger generation of Syria once their country achieved peace.
The highlight of Broukar performance was none other than the Whirling Dervish dance.
Ahmad Alkhatib mesmerised the crowd with his rapid rotation and hand movements which was believed in reference to the name of God according to Sufism.
Violons Barbares consisted of three musicians from three countries; Bulgaria, France and Mongolia.
Using Bulgarian bowed string called gadulka, Mongolian violin called Morin Khur and percussion; the trio gave a refreshing performance to the audience.
The sounds they produced were diverse yet harmonious, making the audience sway to their unique music.
Meanwhile, Chouk Bwa Libete from Haiti brought to the stage of RWMF elements of Haitian Voodoo rhythm and dance as it is a widely practised religion in the country.
Rather than relying on choreography to perform, the members depended on the spiritualities of Voodoo music to move their bodies.
Making their presence known among the international line-up was Gendang Melayu Sri Buana from Sarawak.
The atmosphere was momentarily turned into that of a Malay village as the performers played the gendang.
Led by Rajali Abang, the group had the audience joget (dance) to their music on the muddy and stony ground of SCV.
The concoction sounds of RWMF final concert for 2016 was concluded by Auli from Latvia.
Their music was all about folklore and medieval tunes played using Latvian bagpipes and different kinds of drums.
They also had flown in one of the biggest tree trunk drums in the Baltic to Sarawak to entertain the crowd of RWMF.
The night officially ended with the final bow down by over 80 performers and volunteers.
Also seen enjoying the final performances were Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing and Minister of Local Government Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian.
RWMF has been voted as one of the top 25 World Music Festivals by Songlines Magazine for six years in a row and is supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak and endorsed by Tourism Malaysia with Malaysia Airlines Berhad as the presenting sponsor.