Festival au Désert
The Festival au désert (Festival in the Desert) was an annual concert in Mali, showcasing traditional Tuareg music as well as music from around the world between 2001 and 2012. It was founded and directed by Manny Ansar, and attracted thousands of visitors, bringing a huge boost to the economy.
The first festival took place in 2001 in
Several film documentaries have been made about or at the festival: Le Festival au Désert (2004), Dambé: The Mali Project (2008), The Last Song Before the War (2013), and Woodstock in Timbuktu (2013). The album Festival au Desert Live from Timbuktu (2013) has performances from the 2012 festival.
From 2013, a collaborative venture known "Caravane culturelle de la paix" has toured various countries. This was created by Ansar along with the directors of two other festivals, the Malian Festival sur le Niger, and the Moroccan Festival Taragalte.
History
The first festival took place in
In 2002 the festival was held in
After two years of being held in Kidal, Ansar approached Ali Farka Touré, who was very supportive of having the festival run in Timbuktu. He said that he had always wanted to bring people home, but did not know how to do that, and that now that this festival had been organised, he would support it; he would be their "godfather". He started performing at the festival, bringing in a lot of his fans, more visitors, tourists, and journalists. He performed the closing concert every year from 2003 until 2006 (he died later that year).[3]
After three years, the festival had grown to attract an audience of over 5,000, with more than 50 journalists. The festival had been reported in the overseas press, and big name musicians such as Robert Plant and Bono (of U2 fame) became interested. Several offered to play for free.[3]
The line-up for the 2012 festival included Bono, Bassekou Kouyate, and Tinariwen, who performed together on stage, and Khaira Arby.[8][9] Together they sang "Vive le Mali, vive la paix, vive la musique".[5] Other performers included Tartit, the Ali Farka Touré Allstars, Samba Touré, Tamnana, Baba Djire, and Douma Maïga.[10] Ansar remained the director of the festival.[11]
The festival had grown to attract thousands of visitors, and was a huge source of income for the local people.[5]
Shortly after the January 2012 festival, the
The festival has continued to be postponed due to security concerns in the region. An attempt was made to re-launch it in 2015, but it was not successful.[13]
Films and recordings
An audio recording of the 2012 edition Festival au Desert Live from Timbuktu was released in 2013 with performances by 18 artists.[14][10]
A French-language documentary entitled Le Festival au Désert (2004) was filmed at the 2003 festival.[15] Performers include Tartit, Oumou Sangaré, Lo'Jo, Tinariwen, Robert Plant with Justin Adams, Blackfire, Khaira Arby and her band, Django, and Ali Farka Touré.[15] The DVD contains English subtitles, and an audio CD of the concert, Festival in the Desert, was also released.[16]
The documentary Dambé: The Mali Project (2008) tells the story of a cross-cultural musical adventure over 3000 miles by two Irish musicians, that features performances from the Festival au désert.[17]
Other documentary films made about the Festival are The Last Song Before the War (2013)[18][19][20] and Woodstock in Timbuktu (2013).[21]
Awards
In 2013 the Festival of the Desert was awarded the
Manny Ansar
Mohamed Aly "Manny" Ansar is a Tuareg man, whose family were nomads. He gained a
In July 2013 he spoke at the
Caravane culturelle de la paix
After the last festival in 2012, Ansar, along with friends in Mali, in refugee camps in
The directors of the Malian
The Sahel Sahara Band performs at the Caravane, carrying a message of peace.[5]
In 2017, a planned concert in Timbuktu had to be cancelled at the last minute as it was deemed too risky. After this, there were four evening concerts and two conferences scheduled in three Malian cities, starting at the Festival sur le Niger at Ségou before travelling to
In 2022, the 9th edition of the Caravane culturelle de la paix was held at Festival Taragalte, after being held at Ségou and a desert festival at Ag'na in Mali.[24]
References
- ^ a b "About". Tinariwen. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ "Change to Tinariwen line-up for next week's WOMADelaide festival due to conflict in Mali". Australia Work & Travel Magazine. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Ansar, Manny (6 June 2017). "Manny Ansar Reflects on the Festival au Desert in Timbuktu". Afropop Worldwide (Interview). Interviewed by Koné, Deguet. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- JSTOR 43558546.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Manny Ansar: A cultural Caravan for Peace". Peaceprints. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ Tombouctou : Le Festival du Désert aura bien lieu (in French), Primature: Portail Officiel du Gouvernement Mali, 28 October 2010, archived from the original on 24 September 2015, retrieved 25 December 2011
- ^ Togola, Diakaridia (11 January 2010), "Festival sur le désert : Essakane a vibré au rythme de la 10ème édition", Le Quotidien de Bamako (in French), archived from the original on 15 April 2012, retrieved 25 December 2011
- Timbuktu Renaissance. Retrieved 30 November 2022 – via Google Arts & Culture.
- YouTube(5'45")
- ^ a b "Live From Festival Au Desert, Timbuktu (2013, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ a b "Festival in the Desert Wins Freemuse Award". Afropop Worldwide. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ a b "Caravan for Peace: Mali's Call for Peaceful, Dialogue Comes to the US this Summer" (Press release). Rock Paper Scissors. 2013. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
- ^ "Festival au Désert". Festival au Désert. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ Marcus, Richard (28 April 2013). "Music Review: Various Artists – Live from Festival au Desert, Timbuktu". Blogcritics. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ IMDb
- ^ Gillett, Charlie. "BBC - Music - Review of Various Artists - Le Festival au Desert". BBC. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ "Dambe: The Mali Project ****". Irish Independent. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ "Home". The Last Song Before the War. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ "Film Review: The Last Song Before the War, 2013". Musée Magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ Tsioulcas, Anastasia (4 March 2015). "Stream The Film 'The Last Song Before The War'". NPR. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ "Woodstock in Timbuktu: The Art of Resistance". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ a b c "World Justice Forum IV Speaker: Manny Ansar". World Justice Project. 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2022. Agenda
- ^ "Freemuse Award winner: 'Festival in the Desert' in Mali". Mimeta (in Norwegian). 6 February 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ a b c "Taragalte Festival 2022 In Mhamid El Ghizlane - Programme". Morocco Shiny Days. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ Rohter, Larry (30 July 2013). "Musical nomads, escaping political upheaval". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
- ^ Eyre, Banning (19 July 2013). "Caravan Pour la Paix brings Mali desert vibe to Montreal". Afropop Worldwide. World Music Productions. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
External links
- Official website
- Green, Jonathan (24 November 2022). "S2 07 - Timbuktu - a true story" (audio (30 mins)). Cynthia Schneiderand Manny Ansar, co-directors of the Timbuktu Renaissance, and Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of UNESCO World Heritage