Musical resilience strategies for African asylum seekers in Italy: the cultural mediator Bawa Salifu

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines music’s contribution to the wellbeing, identity affirmation, and cultural integration of African asylum seekers in Italy, in a context where the Italian majority is often hostile to migrants and denies multiculturalism. As part of a broader long-term action-based project dedicated to improving intercultural understandings, this case study focuses on the life story and initiatives of a single musician: Bawa Salifu. It follows Salifu from his status as an irregular migrant, who travelled to Italy from Ghana, to his role as a cultural mediator for asylum seekers in Italy and as the founder in 2015 of the musical project Oghene Damba: Cremona Boys Musical Theater. The sensitivities surrounding getting to know Salifu well enough to discuss his personal experiences are highlighted; this was only possible after documenting Oghene Damba performances for four years. Other ethnographic interaction strategies are also discussed, including jointly watching and commenting on Oghene Damba recordings and YouTube videos. Despite the limitations imposed on asylum seekers, Salifu’s various musical initiatives and collaborations reveal the potential of music to give meaning to their disorientated lives and to make steps towards acceptance into Italian society.