TO THE MOON AND BACK

As a part of Tour de Moon festival launch on 21st october 2021, we have sent an exclusive transmission onto the moon through Moonbounce- an Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) technology-of a new original mix of the 1980’s song ITT (International Thief Thief) by Afrobeat pioneer and political activist Fela Kuti (1938–1997). Bringing this track back into the present to decolonize the moon from extractive, commercial and colonial expansion, Fela Kuti’s youngest son Seun Kuti (1983) weaves his saxophone into the track.

Moonbounce or Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) is a technology that allows sending radio signals from one location to another location on Earth, using the Moon as a natural satellite. It was developed by the United States Military Navy in 1946 as a reliable communication system, used for voice and Morse code signal transmission and reception. The Communication Moon Relay system was publicly inaugurated on 28 January 1960 and it was replaced shortly after by the deployment of artificial satellites, however it is still widely used by radio operators around the world.

The operators are: Nando Pellegrini (call sign I1NDP) and Mario Armando Natali (call sign I0NAA), in collaboration with media artist Daniela de Paulis for TOUR DE MOON