UK premiere for Brooklyn based Devi Mambouka's collaboration with costume designer Tove Berglund and film maker Margret Seema Takyar
Masma Dream World aka Devi Mambouka was born in Gabon, Africa to a father of the Bahoumbou tribe and a Singaporean mother of Chinese, British and Indian Brahmin origins. At the age of 12 she relocated to the Bronx with her mother and two brothers. Inspired by her memories of Africa in addition to hiphop, R&B, ambient and drone, Mambouka started DJing in the New York nightlife scene using a fake ID. She makes her recorded debut with the self-released Masma Dream World EP on 19 October.
During September 2014, Mambouka invited Swedish costume designer Tove Berglund to collaborate on a performance project inspired by weave culture. Berglund weaved hair directly onto Devi's body over the course of five hours using a pair of stockings to maintain its shape. Mambouka and Berglund later met with film maker Margret Seema Takyar to create the video for EP track “Elephant”.
Asked to comment on the video and her debut EP, Mambouka shares a passage from Pam Grout's self-help book E-Squared: “I also love this story about a herd of African elephants who came to salute their former trainer after his death. Even though he had retired and hadn't worked with them in several years, they somehow knew he had died, and walked many miles to form a circle of respect around his home.”
Masma Dream World is released on 19 October
