What is the Journey to the West Project?
Journey to the West is an independent travel-cum-charity project with an alternative twist. It is the vision of Marco Ferrarese, an Italian punk rock musician, music & travel writer and language teacher who, after more than 4 years living abroad in different parts of East and Southeast Asia, has decided to pay a visit back home. As often happened with Marco’s several past projects, this desire has to be fulfilled in style.
Why Journey to the West??
Because Marco has decided to go back to Italy OVERLAND from Asia, mixing the Silk Road ancient routes with chunks of the infamous ‘70s Hippy Trail.
Why is that? Because he is a bit jaded of being addressed as a “Modern Day Marco Polo” by an increasing number of laughing Asians, without having actually lived up to the responsibilities that such a connection implies. Marco has, yes, lived in or visited about 40 countries in the World (including 45 of the states in the US, counting as 1 in the previous list), but nope, he still has to reach Europe by land as his famous ancestor did in reverse. This is, therefore, the time to accomplish the mission.
Journey to the West also because Marco, better known to the international punk and alternative community as “Monkey”, is a modern punk rock picaresque ape with a mission similar to another famous Far Eastern ape: Sun Wukong, or the “Monkey King”. In the Chinese epic novel Journey to the West, Sun Wukong has to help monk Xuanzang to get to India crossing the wilds of Western China and Central Asia. More or less, Marco’s planned itinerary. Furthermore, both Sun Wukong and Marco share another common trait: they both fight with a wooden stick – Marco has been studying ancient martial art Silambam in Malaysia for well over a year -. They are literally linked by a similar apish fate.
As monk Xuanzang needed to collect the Buddhist scriptures from India and take them back to China, Marco Monkey has other evidence to collect: the diversity of the Asian youth. In two forms:
- Creative diversity, by discovering and mapping the alternative rock bands, musicians and trends in the greater Asian region
- Real diversity, by volunteering and providing musical entertainment to communities of orphans, disabled and the poor in the greater Asian region.
Alright, so what’s the problem then?
The problem is, as always, a lack of recognition and interest from the Western, “civilized” world towards the developing world.
There is also an incredible lack of resources for Asian youth to express themselves creatively, to develop critical thinking skills and put them into practice developing their own artistic ideas.
And a much bigger lack of interest from the western media towards these realities, ultimately forcing a “Westernization” of Asian popular music in order to suit Western tastes.
Marco wants to document what is out there, and describe it. Spread the word for everyone in the artistic community to see. Help these people making their dreams a bit more real.
The Impact
Our hope is that this project would be a first step in raising awareness towards the “alternatives” in the Asian artistic community.
Our work will be published by any mean –even only through digital form – and will be a definitive census of the contemporary youthful music of Asia.
Our trip wants to be a symbol of peace, harmony and global reach in a world which is collapsing more and more towards a pit of individualistic, self-centered xenophobia. Music and diverse ideas should be the breeding ground for integration, personal expression and self-development.
Our research wants to seek out and give voice to people who may not benefit of the same artistic freedom or means experienced by other people in more developed countries because of financial limitations, difficult life situations or repressive regimes.