Culture · Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe carnival: Akiyo, Voukoum and the power of the skin-drum groups
Guadeloupean carnival is not only sequins and floats. Groups such as Akiyo, founded in 1978, or Voukoum, founded in 1988 in Basse-Terre, carry its most deeply rooted face.
Groups born of a cultural choice
Akiyo was created in 1978 and became a major figure of carnival and of Guadeloupean culture. Voukoum, based at Bas-du-Bourg in Basse-Terre, was created in 1988 and is associated with the Gwo Siwo style and the Mas a Senjan.
These groups parade on the strength of drums and percussion, with no amplified float: a deliberately stripped-back aesthetic, built on rhythm and collective voice.
A carnival that speaks about society
Carnival is also a space for social commentary: masks, processions and songs say something about current affairs, memory and power.
That is why Guadeloupean carnival is lived intensely over several weeks, and not just for the length of a parade.