Music
Festival au Désert: the Malian music festival in the Sahara that went into exile
The Festival au Désert, launched in Mali in 2001, brought Tuareg, Malian and international musicians to the dunes…
Ali Farka Touré
Music
Ali Farka Touré’s son makes his own name: Vieux Farka Touré
Vieux Farka Touré, born in Niafunké, Mali, in 1981, is the son of the celebrated guitarist Ali Farka…
Music
A diplomat’s daughter who made Malian music modern: Rokia Traoré
Rokia Traoré, born in Mali in 1974, travelled widely as the daughter of a diplomat and blended Malian…
Arts + Culture
Seventy-one generations of griots, one kora: Toumani Diabaté, who died in 2024
Toumani Diabaté, the Malian kora master from a long line of griots, won Grammys with Ali Farka Touré…
Arts + Culture
The Grammy winner who preferred his farm: Ali Farka Touré, Ry Cooder and the desert blues
Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder's Talking Timbuktu won the Grammy for Best World Music Album. Touré then…