It’s a song and a manifesto. This Wednesday, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, Barbara Pravi revealed the song Get upwhich she performs with Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi.
“Get up crowd, don’t watch the world collapsing without doing anything, thinking only about your face, without moving, without arming yourself with conscience. Do not let violence, rejection of others and ignorance take hold. Let our voices rise together and our united hands finally lift us up, ”calls the French artist at the start of the piece. She declines her call to different interlocutors in the following stanzas: “Get up, son”, “Get up sister”… And to plead: “Do honor to your mothers, to your daughters. Honor your sisters, their lives. They who have paid too dear a price for silence, for oblivion. Don’t let history erase us. »
The very beautiful text of this song is partly taken from the manifesto for women’s rights, also entitled Get up, published in 5,000 copies by Julliard editions and put on sale this Thursday. Barbara Pravi signed all the words and illustrations of the book, while Aref Al-Haidari delivered the Arabic translation. All royalties will be donated to La Collective, a shelter and help center for women in Arles, of which the singer is the godmother.
“His lips hum for those who have no voice”
“In a chorus, like a melody of the soul, she will tell you that we don’t lock up birds. His lips hum for those who no longer have a voice. Those who, somewhere, are terrified, writes the Moroccan author Huriya Asmahan about Barbara Pravi in the preface. Her dream is not a mad hope she put in the mouths of the stars. One day, these stars will say that his fight was not in vain. »
On Instagram, the French author, composer and performer described this project as “the greatest madness”. Since 2018, every March 8th, she has got into the habit of proposing a creation (the feminine rewriting of Kid by Eddy de Pretto, two volumes of “Prayers”…) to celebrate International Women’s Rights Day. “Let’s get up, together, every March 8 yes, but every day, every second”, enjoined Barbara Pravi in her story.