Par
Melvin Moya
Published on
Nov. 23, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
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» Ah… I need to be more concise. » Retracing his life should have taken him hours. However, Nikola Raghoonauth, 47, completed the exercise in less than 35 minutes. This resident of La Réole, in the south of Gironde, has a career that is as rich as it is unusual.
He met the IAM group
Ready-to-wear seller, rapper, political activist, composer, florist and even poet, this Mauritian has always wanted to make a living from culture, a way to express one's commitments in multiple forms. His love of rap truly began in 1998. That year, he joined a group strongly committed against the Mauritian State and police repression.
An impromptu meeting with the IAM group reinforces his desire to join this environment, but how?
» My political commitment was vague, I had to dig “, he remembers. Very invested, Nikola subsequently joined the Lalit political movement, with which he fully identified. » I continued my path in this party while pursuing music. My musical palette diversified with the discovery of jazz and rock. “
In 2004, he left the movement, disagreeing with its political line. “It put me off politics,” confides the man who defines himself as “an anti-globalization activist.”
His career takes off thanks to a project
His passion for music, on the other hand, never left him. He forms a new group called Seven, consisting of five members. » We had fun adding a doll and a teddy bear with us on stage (laughs). “
More this lover of words and melodies wants more. Touched by Slam, popularized by the eponymous film, his writing evolves, as do his aspirations. He then left his group, amid disagreements. It was in 2005, during a call for projects from the Alliance Française, that his career took a turning point.
Nikola experienced a crossing of the desert
Spotted by a Reunion company, he was invited to the island as an author and musician. » I had the opportunity to participate in a storytelling festival in Ouagadougou and get noticed by a very well-known producer in Reunion. » Joining a new group, he participates at the Printemps de Bourges Discoveries .
Unfortunately, in 2011, its producer died, marking the beginning of a journey through the desert. Nikola returns to Mauritius with his partner, hoping that this difficult period will only be temporary.
I had to fight to find a place for myself
After several projects around the theater, he decided to take the plunge: come to France. It is in La Réole, in Gironde, that the family has found refuge since 2015. “I had to fight to find a place for myself”, which he did brilliantly.
Today, Nikola Raghoonauth combines the hats of author-performer with the company Migr'Arts, a company which deals with the subjects of migration, but also that of technician, actor at the 5 Bis theater. Always with the desire to express his thoughts and his very particular art.
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