by Daniel Brown
Article published on the 2009-01-19 Latest update 2009-01-24 09:05 TU
The four-day festival in Ségou is four hours drive northeast of the Malian capital Bamako. The annual event once again includes the cream of Malian voices - artists like Oumou Sangaré, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Mamadou Diabaté and the veteran band Super Biton de Ségou. There will also be a chance to hear Les Amazones from Guinea, the Portuguese group Atlantida and the spectacular percussionist Pibo Marquez from Venezuela, as the festival expands its horizons.
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The festival coincides with the latest release by the Malian diva Oumou Sangaré.
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“This is a communion of people,” said Cheick Tidiane Seck, the godfather of a festival that aims to resurrect his hometown’s cultural heritage.
For visitors to the January gathering, this was an apt description of Le Festival sur le Niger. More than anything, this festival on Africa’s third longest river, is an attempt to resuscitate the former capital of the Bambara kingdom.
157 years after it was founded by Kaladian Coulibaly, Ségou has sadly become a dilapidated town riddled with unemployment.
It is the capital of the fourth administrative region of Mali, but the proud culture it once displayed has been buried in poverty and indifference.
Director Mamou Daffé has tried to change all that. With the help of international partners like Mexico’s Ollin Kan festival, the businessman hopes to infuse the city with artistic dynamism.
That is also the hope of the national government. N’diaye Bah is Mali’s Minister for Crafts and Tourism.
“The Ségou region is the cradle of a very old civilisation,” he told RFI. “But, unfortunately, Ségou is only a transit town for tourists who go on to visit the Dogon region, Djenné, Timbuktu, Gao, and so on.”
More than just a music festival, this gathering is a multi-disciplinary look at issues of concern for Ségovians.
This year, there is going to be a debate on the environment and what local solutions can be found to concerns about pollution and drought.
There is an exhibition on the theme of Love, and debates on oral tradition. And, as always there is to be an opening parade that celebrates the heritage around hunting and puppetry.
“The organisers here said Ségou must be integrated in the tourist circuit of Mali,” said Bah.
“That’s the 'raison d’être' for this festival, for four days, Ségou welcomes lots and lots of tourists, and I think it’s very important for its reputation."
"The location is very picturesque, original. It’s a bastion overlooking the river Niger. And this river looks truly majestic in Ségou.”
However, challenges lay elsewere. Unemployment continues to affect the majority of the adult population in the sleepy town.
The former Minister for Culture Sheikh Omar Sissoko was particularly vociferous in his call to rally the entire population.
“Ségou has been forgotten by the Ségovians themselves,” he said.
“The government has organised its cultural agenda for this year around this festival. It welcomes all expressions of Malian culture and artistry."
"Ségou’s festival is supported by the Malian government and we also invest heavily in the region. But Ségovians are not developing enough initiatives like this one.”
Sissoko, who relinquished his post as Minister for Culture to Mohammed al Moktar, returned to his main profession as a film director.
But he continues to follow the development of the festival closely. And only has praise for organisers.
“It’s thanks to the support of hotel owners and a dynamic artist community here that the festival works. It must allow Ségou to become a town with an adequate infrastructure to house tourists, and not be a transit zone. We must change this! And I’m convinced we can. That’s why our ambition is to make Ségou, Mali’s cultural capital […] and all the elements are here to build it.”
The sense of a cultural mission has been transmitted to the Malian musicians themselves.
Ségou has surprising depth in artistic talent that has had an influence across the world - Bassekou Kouyaté, Cheick Tidiane Seck and Abdoulaye Diabaté.
Veteran singer Diabaté hopes the town can create a cultural melting-pot to honour Banzoumana Sissoko, a national hero.
The blind composer, poet and guitarist was nicknamed The Old Lion, and did much to resuscitate the Bambana kingdom that Coulibaly founded here in 1852.
“The kingdom of Ségou is a heritage which must not be forgotten,” said the Malian singer.
“It’s a touristic and religious venue for everyone."
"Its folklore, agriculture, animal breeding and culture used to be known throughout the country. What other region can better represent our glorious past than this one? It is ideal for tourists and investors, there is nowhere better - no!”
Few artists are more engaged in dredging up Mali’s past than Cheick Tidiane Seck.
“It’s because I was born here back in 1952,” he said in one of his favourite Segou clubs.
“All the musicians invited here have a story with me. So I’m very happy to be here.”
Seck will once again be the guest of honour in the 2009 festival.
It begins with a traditional Bambana show called “Famakadisongo” and ends with crowd favourites Neba Solo and Mangala.
World Tracks will be there from beginning to end to bring you the highlights.
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