Unmuting the Manza

Du mardi 27 janvier au dimanche 1 février 2026, La Semaine du Son accueille au MIM une exposition temporaire de l'installation sonore de Adilia Yip et Edward Dekeyser. 

From January 27th to February 1st, La Semaine du Son welcomes a temporary exhibition at the MIM featuring a sound installation by Adilia Yip and Edward Dekeyser.

Unmuting the Manza invites audiences on an immersive journey into the sound world of manza, a traditional xylophone once played by Azande chiefs in the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). The installation opens a space to listen, reflect, and reimagine the cultural meanings and sonic memories of manza-xylophones preserved in the Africa Museum in Tervuren since the late nineteenth century.

Using interactive electronic interfaces, participants can explore the instrument’s sounds and learn its playing techniques—now largely forgotten within local communities due to colonization and modernization. In collaboration with musicians from the DRC, South Africa, Belgium, and Hong Kong, the installation weaves together archival recordings, local hip-hop, jazz, and the soundscapes of the city of Kisangani (DRC). From church choirs and airport luggage belts to the rhythmic engines of boats along the Congo River, the installation revives a lost musical heritage through collective listening and creation.

Adilia Yip is a performer of marimba and balafon, and a postdoctoral researcher in the arts (practice-based research, University of Antwerp, 2012–18). She investigates the cross-pollination of musical traditions and technology, with a particular focus on co-creation and contemporary expressions, in projects such as ReSoXy: ReSounding the Xylophone Collections of RMCA (Africa Museum, Tervuren, and BELSPO BRAIN-be 2.0) and PercAI: A Generative AI Model for the West African Balafon Polyrhythm (Royal Conservatoire Antwerp). She gives performances and lecture-recitals at international symposia, museums, festivals, and music venues, and also teaches African music and world music at the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp.

Edward Dekeyser studied electroacoustic composition at the Royal Conservatory of Mons and took prior steps in multiphonic composition and diffusion at the sound design atelier of the Royal Academy of Antwerp. He was awarded in 2021 first place in ‘L’Espace du son: Concours de spatialisation’, an international competition from “Influx – Musiques & Recherches” for spatial interpretation of electroacoustic oeuvres on a world-renowned acousmonium of over 80 loudspeakers. Among many more collaborations and appearances, he recently composed tape-music for soprano-voice Françoise Vanhecke.

The exhibition will be officially opened on 27 January from 12:00 to 14:00, with a live performance by Adilia Yip (marimba, MIDI manza) and Edward Dekeyser (immersive 5.1 sound system).