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The Paris Philharmonic is devoting an immersive exhibition to the Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, inventor of Afrobeat in the 1970s, who “had a real love affair with France,” according to Alexandre Girard-Muscagorry, one of the exhibition curators.
The son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti spoke of his father’s bravery in using “music as a weapon” ahead of an immersive exhibition opening at the Paris Philharmonic on Thursday.
“Instead of picking up a gun, music was the only tool he had. It was a weapon to use against authority, against colonisation and corrupt African governments,” said Femi Kuti, himself a hugely successful musician.