Djam Neguin

Funaná is a practice of music and dance that appears on the island of Santiago, in Cape Verde, within a post-slavery context at the end of the 19th century. There are several versions about the origin of the name. In one of them, it is said that there was a couple of musicians: Funa, who played the harmonica and his companion, Na-Ná, who played ferrinho. In fact, there’s any records of Na-Ná, since the history of Funaná is crystallized in an iconoclasm of Santiago’s masculinity and rurality. Where will Na-Ná be? Did she exist? The future will be the answer. — Djam Neguin


Djam Neguin is a multidisciplinary artist of the new generation of contemporary Cape Verdean creatives. He is involved in the production of the international contemporary dance festival Kontornu and is also responsible for the virtual project Rede de Dança da CPLP and of Mostra de Dança da Cidade da Praia.