- Title: SYRIA: Tuareg group from Mali opens world music festival in Damascus
- Date: 18th July 2008
- Summary: MORE OF PERFORMANCE
- Embargoed: 2nd August 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
- Reuters ID: LVAEV8BVPQNJEZZ013APM33HCO1X
- Story Text: An international world music festival kicks off in Damascus to celebrate the city's status as this year's Arab Capital of Culture with a performance by a traditional Tuareg group from Mali.
The "World Music Nights" festival was launched on Wednesday (July 16) in the Syrian capital, as part of a series of events to mark Damascus's status as the Arab Capital of Culture for 2008.
An award-winning musical group from Mali, playing traditional Tuareg music, performed during the festival's opening evening at the old citadel of Damascus.
The group, called Tinariwen (Tamasheq -- the Tuareg language -- for "many deserts"), was formed in revolutionary camps set up in the 1980s by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the Sahara desert.
The band's music, composed of lyrics in Tamasheq and French, combines traditional Tuareg, Arabic and Songhai melodies with American blues and Reggae.
"We sing for the homeland. We sing about various things like the desert and love," said band member Honosidati.
Tuareg are Muslim descendants of the Berbers, Saharan nomads who controlled major trade routes between sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean Sea for hundreds of years.
The colonial carve-up of Africa put borders through the Saharan caravan routes the light-skinned Tuaregs had worked for hundreds of years, dividing them between Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Chad to the south and Algeria and Libya to the north.
Fiercely proud of their centuries-old independence form outsiders, the turban-clad nomands staged revolts in the 1960s and 1990s in Mali and Niger for more autonomy from African governments in capitals more than 1,000 km (600 miles) away.
For years, Tinariwen's music was banned in Mali and Algeria, as members of the group, associated with militant organisations, conveyed political messages of resistance and independence in their songs.
A peace treaty between Tuareg and Mali in 1992 ended the ban, and the musicians swapped their rifles with musical instruments. Since then the group has gained world acclaim, specially after it had released its first international album in 2000.
The African group has participated in various prestigious international music festivals the world over, and performed with renowned musicians. But the performance in Syria was their first ever in the Middle East.
"We are so happy that we got this attention and this invitation to come to Syria. We have never held a concert in this part of the world, which we are not familiar with. It is important to hold it here and to make people know about our people too," manager of the group's trip to Syria, Batien Gzell said.
Performing in indigo-dyed turbans and robes, the band's latest work talks about the struggle of desert life and a longing for freedom, but occasionally returns to the more militant tone of their early songs.
The Syrian audience was intrigued by the unique style Tinariwen's music.
"I know they are Tuareg, and they are very different to us, and they are putting their culture across to us in a very beautiful way, and that is really nice," said Nisreen Farid, who attended the concert.
"It's very good to get to know about other cultures, specially old traditional ones like this. It's very beautiful," said another audience member, Yasser al-Fares.
The group says it is still fighting the Tuareg cause, using haunting Saharan poetry and electric guitars to tell audiences around the world of an ancient and threatened nomadic culture.
The week-long "World Music Nights" festival hosts various international musicians from around the world. It is one is a series of events celebrating Damascus as the The Arab Capital of Culture for this year.
The initiative, undertaken by UNESCO under the Cultural Capitals Programme, aims to promote and celebrate Arab culture and encourage cooperation in the Arab region, similar to the European and American Capitals of Culture programmes.
Arab cities were first included in the Cultural Capitals Program in 1998. Since then, such cities as Cairo, Khartoum, Riyadh and Algiers have been named Arab Capitals of Culture. The Arab League announced earlier this year that Jerusalem will be next year's Arab Cultural Capital. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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