In our opening video, Sanou brings us to the streets of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, for an exploration of the theme of Chrysalis. Sanou’s concept is one of magical realism, fusing the quotidian and the idealistic: he brings the images of wings and flight into the quotidian life of his home city. Abrupt camera motion follows the progress of Sanou, whose body transforms into various manifestations of a new butterfly taking wing. At the same time, as Sanou tries to take flight, ordinary life carries on around him -  motorbikes, dogs, and chickens amble past him, heads turn of women on the way to their daily shopping. Interspersed with these images, however, is the orchestra in Oxford, set in a rooftop amphitheatre against a blue sky. This is the imagined world of Sanou’s mind, a sky where he can take flight and soar to music only heard by him. This fusion of locations should leave audiences with an uplifting sensation that taking flight is always possible - even if only in the mind.

​