Gasba Le :34 cm The Arab and Mediterranean Center Tunisia

I have chosen to tell you about the gasba because it tells me a story... the goat skin tent has been erected in the plain. The night sky is a constellation of stars. Red tea boils on the embers of the fire. The members of the douar have assembled and are listening to the storyteller who recounts stories of ancient and unchanging times. From one generation to another, the storyteller is the link that hands down experience and tradition. The best ones are poets. Their language idealizes a hard rugged life, in rhythm with the seasons.

Their song, the ghna, is accompanied by an instrument so simple that it expresses the genius of the simple life. The gasba, a flute of very dry reed without any reed or mouthpiece, has nine finger holes to produce its ancient melodies. It is decorated with Berber motifs in red and black. The flute supports the singer, called a ghannay, and urges him on. Sometimes, the flute prompts him. Fill up the silence and express the inexpressible! Their dialogue is proof of their complicity. Flute and singer become one to hand down their musical language.