The Immensely Loved All-Female Boduberu Group That Is Making An Impact In The Boduberu Community

Boduberu, is the big drums of the Maldives, a part of its culture and is the heart of traditional Maldivian music. Boduberu, starts with a slow beat and with a soft tempo and incremental until it becomes very fast-paced drumming. This traditional music is generally performed by a group 15 or more people with one lead singer, back-up singers, drummers and dancers.  

While Boduberu remains a significant part of the Maldivian culture – at present most Boduberu groups consists of men, with no female group being based in Male’ City – the capital. Hence, when Faiymini Boduberu Group emerged – the ground shook. On Women’s Day 2014, a group of very talented 20 young girls was put together as a group by an NGO – Hope for Women – to perform at an event. This marked the beginning of the first all-female Boduberu group in Male’ City.  

From the beginning, Faiymini Boduberu Group received immense love and support from their audience, the Boduberu Community and so many others. In fact, a lot of people were shocked to witness such a good performance from these young girls – as they did not think they could perform on par with already established groups. Their talent combined with their dedication for the art has allowed them to perform in a number of grand events held across different parts of the country as well as internationally.  

During this journey, they were faced with many obstacles – some solely due to their gender. These ranged from event organizers willing to pay less for them than they would have to a male group and withholding payments or expecting them to perform for free. When their song ‘Kanbalun Ge Shu’ooru’ had hit 1 million views on Youtube – the first Boduberu song to reach the milestone in the Maldives – the achievement was barely celebrated with a local media giving the credit to a song from a male Boduberu group some time later.  

Nevertheless, in the Boduberu community, Faiymini Group is well respected just as any other. Consequently, the fight alongside other Boduberu groups to advocate against matters that pertain to their livelihood such as the lack of support from the Government or event organizers when they represent the nation at international events and such.   

Today, as they celebrate their 7th anniversary, they still do not have a dedicated space to carry out their practices that has always been their main concern. But this does not deter them away from their goal of being the finest female Boduberu group in the nation.  
 
 Photo and video clips provided by: Faiymini Boduberu Group