Arctic and desert dwellers share stories at unique Malian music and cultural festival

Actors and singers who live in some of the world’s most unforgiving climates met in January 2008 at the Festival au desert VIII in Essakane, Mali, and discovered they had a lot in common. An Inuit circus troupe named Artcirq traveled from near the Arctic Circle to the festival held in the Sahara Desert just north of the ancient African city of Timbuktu. Despite the difference in climate, the artists of Artcirq see many similarities between life in the Arctic and life in the Sahara, including a slower pace, listening to the land, and the collision between traditional and modern life.

The desert music festival, which began in 2001, has been held in Essakane, two hours’ drive from Timbuktu, since 2003. Its origins lie in the traditional Tuareg festivities where decisions were made and information shared among communities, preceded by songs, poetry, dances, camel rides, and games. In 1996, after the Tamasheq war ended and thousands of weapons were burned publicly in Timbuktu, the Tuareg association EFES decided to revive the gatherings and to invite all Malians, and foreigners as well.

The three day festival, which started as a showcase of Malian music but has expanded to promote Tamasheq culture and include other African artists and international acts, has grown through word of mouth and media coverage. Despite its remoteness, thousands of music fans attended from around the world, as well as from Mali. This year Vogue magazine used the event as a backdrop for a fashion photo shoots. The festival's traditional cultural aspects - camel rides, "tindés" or traditional women’s songs, games, and expositions - take place during the day; the concerts start just before sunset.

Festival director Manny Ansar says the current goal is "contact and human relations". Artcirq, founded in 1998 in response to the suicide problem in Igloolik, a small island community in Canada’s northern Nunavut Territory, was the most unique act at this year’s festival. The group uses traditional culture, circus arts, and videography to empower youth amd connect Arctic artists with the rest of the world. 

Artcirq co-founder Guillaume Saladin, a 35-year-old white French Canadian from a family of anthropologists who grew up in Igloolik, ran away to join the circus after university, and then returned to Igloolik to teach acrobatics, hopes the group’s success will inspire youth in Igloolik. "We’re building dreams," he says. For Artcirq to travel to Timbuktu was a dream come true for him. "Everywhere in the world people are saying ‘all the way to Timbuktu.’ It’s just like people all around the world knowing Eskimos kiss with their nose."

In hopes of breaking those stereotypes about Inuit,  Artcirq presented a film screening of The Fast Runner, an internationally acclaimed film about life in the Arctic. A Tuareg man seemed impressed. "You’ve come to show how you live. Very good," he said. "And we’ve come to see how you live," the Artcirq members replied. They smiled, shook hands and parted ways, in the middle of the Sahara desert.

This story was compiled from information on the Festival au desert website, the Artcirq website, and a story entitled Festival fosters cultural exchange in the desert, Jennifer Hollett, Inter Press Service, Jan. 18 2008. Email. For another perspective on the festival, see Kevin Moloney's article entitled In Mali, S.U.V.'s and Camels Deliver the Fans, May 11, 2008, New York Times Travel section.

 

 


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