Chilean Actress Personifies a Gypsy Singer Named Kali Mutsa

The mythology Celine Reymond has created around Kali Mutsa is so detailed, it’s challenging to distinguish what’s real and what’s imagined.

“She [Kali Mutsa] was born in a valley that’s called Pachacuti. It’s an oasis of jungle in the middle of the Chilean desert. She’s born in a caravan, of gypsy artists. She started very young, she escaped in a circus and she wanted to be a dancer and then she started singing in an orchestra. Now a lot of years later she modernized her music so she can come back to the scene because she’s very young looking,” said Reymond.

And like many Chileans, Reymond’s heritage is a mix of many different cultures.

“My grandfather is Palestinian,” she said. “And I’m French, and I’m Ecuadorian, and Venezuelan, and Chilean of course. I have an ancestor that is gypsy, very far away, and is very mysterious. That’s why I like to draw a line, like an imaginary line to continue the story.”

Reymond said she’s always had an active imagination so allowing herself to be possessed by Kali Mutsa comes naturally.

“I love her. She’s me but with a magical story, you know. I’m an actress actually, but it was the most ‘near to me’ way to do music. I can be as magical and as surrealistic as I can because I’m in a character,” she said.