So, we're soon to set out again on a new adventure.

This time I'm taking you to the Laos Mountains. I know many of you have been reading this first blog, so I've decided not to change anything for the newcomers…and go on as if I had never interrupted it….And as we are still in January I wish you a happy new year! With all the merry children I met in the streets of Phnom Penh, Kampuchea when shooting my last pictures…
the purpose of this trip is completely different, my intentions are to build a common memory of the Laotian musical culture, of which I know nothing, as I write these few lines. you may wonder why I am delving into a culture I don't know, with no anthropological background.
Well, I believe that not being an anthropologist myself, I will not be able to give you the technical perspective researchers would offer. And I think I may say that apart from a few specialists, geopolitical big wigs and well-informed industry tycoons, very few people are interested in a country that is 236 800 km2 (not quite half of France) and inhabited by a mere 6 million people. So, to throw a light on the ins and outs of my decision, and above all so as not to make too many mistakes, here is a page where you will read a summary of the country's rich, tormented, yet little known, history.
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0859186.html

Now, if you have read the page I've just mentioned, you know why very few things have been achieved so far, as it's only been 15 years since the country opened up to the outside world.
If some people criticise the development of tourism, who are we to judge?
How many "classical" musicians are still active there today, in comparison with popular musicians? This I can not say yet. I will share this adventure with the director of the Royal Ballet theatre, Mr Chandra Vongsaravanh.
To conclude, this adventure will be different from the last one, but I'm positive that we are all in for great surprises!
So, if some of you are still wondering about my motivations, about what is to become of the ethnic communities I shall meet, about the use of my endeavours. I hope this quotation from Vernant will help them understand:
“To be oneself, it is necessary to be projected towards what is foreign, to be prolonged in and by him. Remaining enclosed in one's identity means to lose and cease being. One builds oneself through contact, exchange and trade with the other, between banks of the same and the other, man is a bridge”.