Toto’s “Africa” ​​came home, so to speak, thanks to an installation by an artist who plans to play the song on repeat in a Namibian desert – for all eternity.

The desert on the west coast of southern Africa is around 55 million years old, making it the oldest desert in the world and “the perfect place” for his job, Siedentopf, 27, told CNN in an email. “I hope the song plays that long,” he added.

Siedentopf uses solar batteries to power the entire installation, which consists of sockets supporting six loudspeakers connected to a single MP3 player containing a single song: “Africa” ​​by Toto.

The song has been a pop culture phenomenon since its release in 1982, topping the US Billboard charts and selling over 4 million copies in the United States alone.

“Even though Toto’s ‘Africa’ was released in 1982, it’s still very much present in pop culture today and used frequently for memes and even entire pages of Reddit are devoted to the song,” Siedentopf said. , based in London.

“I was very intrigued by this and wanted to give the song the ultimate tribute and physically expose ‘Africa’ in Africa.”

When asked if his work poked fun at the tendency of non-Africans to exoticize the continent, Siedentopf said there was a lot to be said about Western stereotypes, but “put (that) aside, the installation is supposed to look more at the lighter side of things and everyone should be able to enjoy it. “

He said he would not reveal the exact location of the work, adding that it was “like a treasure that only the most loyal Toto fans can find”.