Daj Ognia
The Krakow-based Daj Ognia describe what they do as “the music of an imaginary village”. Essentially, that village is an idealized entity that has taken root in our collective notions of a life in a small, traditional community. It breathes pre-Christian rituals, magic and the austere harshness of nature.
The artists of Daj Ognia take the audience on a journey into a world of unobvious events, perplexing relationships and bizarre symbols, a world they build from two elements: Polish folklore and Scandinavian music. Their work is powerful, unbridled, tangible and intense, as they weave together drum beats, the drone of bagpipes, the melodies of bowed lyres and singing.
The members of the dark folk quintet from Lesser Poland not only draw on tradition, but also contribute to its preservation. For instance, they take part in the once-banned springtime processions of the pucheroki: originally Krakow students, and later rural caroling groups.
Text by Dr. Łukasz Smoluch - ethnomusicologist from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
