Headliner of the 50th edition of the International Folklore Meetings in Friborg (RFI), the Mekeo tribe is an indigenous group from Papua Nouvelle-Guinea who had never left his country. An exceptional coming of which was a real logistical and administrative challenge.
“Organize the trip of the Mekeo tribe in Papua New Guinea to Switzerland was a huge challenge because these people were not identified and therefore did not exist from an administrative point of view”, explains in the 12:30 pm of August 17 Lauriane Zosso, artistic director of the international folklore meetings of Friborg (RFI).
“There were no postal addresses, birth certificates or passports. We had to create everything from scratch. And making them visas was extremely complicated from Switzerland”. A bureaucratic surplus that has not discouraged the organizers, despite some cold sweats and sleepless nights.
Customs stuck races stuck in customs
The Mekeo tribe had never left his country. Originally from Papua New Guinea, the country of Oceania housing the most isolated peoples in the world, this native group has a culture which is based on a rich oral tradition where rituals and ceremonies occupy a central place.
Their spectacular headdresses, which are up to 1.80m high and 1.30m wide, are made with feathers of parrots, eagles, cockatooes with yellow hpe, martins and birds of paradise which symbolize the link between heaven and earth.
But passing the borders to these sacred ornaments made with protected species constituted another administrative challenge for RFIs. “We had to make export permits for each pen and then everything remained trapped in customs in Paris,” said Lauriane Zosso.
A festival that weaves links worldwide
In the end, a delegation of fifteen Mekeo tribe members arrived in Friborg to participate in these international folklore meetings, a event that has been weaving links for fifty years and highlights traditional world cultures through dance and music.
Each summer, the RFIs bring eight to ten sets that interpret the traditional folklore of their country in its authentic or elaborate form for the scene. Nearly 300 dancers, singers and musicians thus transmit the colors of their traditions to the public of the festival.
>> >> To see, a subject of 7:30 p.m. out of the 50th anniversary of Friborg International Folklore Meetings:
This year, the event is held until August 24 at Place Georges Python, hosted daily by festival groups and by various artists. Added to it, there and outdoor shows, activities for children, as well as concerts.
Sujet Radio: Mehdi Piccand
Adaptation web: ld/aq
The international folklore meetings of Friborg, Place Georges Python, from August 16 to 24, 2025.
