By Harry Mottram: What little I knew about Ingushetia was greatly increased by folk singer Daria Kulesh in a concert at the Axe Vale Arts Centre as she added a mosaic of personal details about the republic in the north Caucasus region of Eastern Europe. And most of what she conveyed with her velvet voice was from her grandmother who seems to have passed down a veritable trousseau of memories, anecdotes, folk stories and family histories that served as introductions to each song. Accompanied by acoustic guitarist Tristram Seume the concert featured songs from Ireland, Scotland, England and above all Ingushetia with one rather pertinent to Somerset since it features an apple orchard. The Song of the Firebird, referred to her grannie who was condemned by the local clan leaders in Ingushetia after she fell in love with a Russian – and just as today, falling for a Russian can get you into trouble. The lyrics of the song speak of the theft of a golden apple – which could be seen as a rather romantic form of scrumping.
Dressed in a traditional Ingushetian full length high necked and embroidered blue gown Daria explained her complex background. Born in Moscow but of Ingushetia heritage she spoke of the ‘heritage of hurt’ when the vindictive dictator Stalin exiled the population of the mountainous region to a desert in Kazakstan as collective punishment for a supposed but false collaboration in World War Two. And that hurt permeated much of the emotion embroidered into the lyrics of some of the songs. She now lives in this country although with a distinctive Irish accent Daria continues to tour Europe and the UK with her stories and songs. Some are from Ireland and Scotland while some are original compositions – she has an album out – Motherland – which according to one critic has, ‘mystical power and presence both stirring and hypnotic,’ which is a fair summary of the self styled ‘voice of fairy tales’. Sentiments which accurately sum up her unique voice and storytelling style. A beautiful and unusual concert in the beautiful setting of the former Methodist chapel – and now arts centre – in Axbridge.
At the interval Daria expanded on her family background with a brief tour of photographs from her picture album which added further detail – not just to her life – but to Ingushetia as a whole.
For details of her music and tour dates visit https://daria-kulesh.co.uk/ and for more on the acoustic guitarist Tristan Seume visit https://tristanseume.com/
There’s plenty of information on the republic of Ingushetia online but Wikipedia is a good starting point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingushetia
Check out more events at Axe Vale Arts and to buy tickets see https://www.ticketsource.com/axe-vale-arts or see their Facebook site for Axe Vale Arts Centre, West Street, Axbridge (The former Methodist Chapel), Somerset, United Kingdom, BS26 2AA. https://axevalearts.org.uk
Axbridge News is edited by Harry Mottram and is published for the interest of himself and fellow residents.
Harry is a freelance journalist. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc
Email:harryfmottram@gmail.com
Website:www.harrymottram.co.uk
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