CONCERN FOR THE KIDAL REGION
Just as Tinariwen embark on their 2008 summer tour of Europe, their hometown of Kidal and the surrounding Adrar region in north eastern Kidal have been rocked by renewed fighting between Tamashek rebels and the Malian army. A new rebel group called the Alliance Touareg Nord Mali pour le Changement (ATNMC) lead by Ibrahim Ag Bahanga attacked an army column of twenty 4x4s and trucks on the road north from Kidal to the rebel strong-hold of Tinzaouatene on March 20th, killing around 8 Malian soldiers, wounding 20 more and taking up to thirty army personnel hostage, including several senior commanders. It was the worse casualty toll since the end of the Touareg rebellion in 1992.
Fighting then broke out in the village of Aguelhoc and on the main road south of Kidal to Gao before a truce was brokered by the Libyan government on April 2nd. Nevertheless, the assassination in Kidal of a respected Touareg soldier, M'Barka Ag Cheick, member of the mainstream rebel Alliance, the ADC (Alliance Democratique du 23 mai pour le Changement), and his adjutant on April 11th has left the small desert town in shock. For the time being, no one has admitted responsibility for this criminal act.
Bahanga's ATNMC broke away from the ADC at the end of last year, impatient with the slow progress of development and implementation of the Algiers Accords, signed in the summer of 2006 by the ADC and the Malian Government.
The atmosphere in Kidal and in the whole region is extremely tense. Tinariwen's main concern is for their families and friends, and for the civilian population.
For more information on the situation in Mali and in neighbouring Niger, please visit the following websites:
www.temoust.org
www.kidal.info
www.tuaregcultureandnews.blogspot.com
You can also email Le Collectif Belge pour la Paix au Sahara at collectif_paix_sahara@yahoo.fr to find out more on how to get involved in supporting peace efforts in the Sahara.
TINARIWEN COMPLETE A WEEK'S RESIDENCY AT THE VIP, ST NAZAIRE, FRANCE
Tinariwen have just completed a week long residency at the VIP, a music venue in the French port of St Nazaire on the Atlantic coast. This is the second year in which Tinariwen and the VIP have teamed up. The VIP provided the band with a very warm welcome, some funding and a superb venue with PA and lights in which to prepare their forthcoming tour. Tinariwen played two free shows at the venue, one in front a specially selected group of 10 and 16 year-old students. The residency was an opportunity for Tinariwen's new lighting and video-projection team, Jerome 'Lulu' Lubin and Thierry 'Titi' Charles, to try out their specially prepared projections of photos, movie sequences and lyrics. The results were very encouraging and well-received. The light and projection show will be part of Tinariwen's concerts in the UK and France in May. An exhibition of the desert photographs of Nadia
Nid El Mourid, one of Lo'Jo's two female singers, was also on show during the residency. The group are already in discussion with the VIP about a residency next year which will hopefully include a different range of community side projects. Tinariwen want to give a big thanks to the entire VIP team, and especially to Jerome Gaboriau, Patrice Bulting and Stephane Heuvelin for all their hard work and support. For more info on the VIP and their annual festival, Les Escales de St Nazaire, please go to www.les-escales.com.
SIGN UP FOR PEACE IN MALI
Show your solidarity with the men, women and children of the Adrar des Iforas in north eastern Mali by signing a petition for peace set up by the commune de St Jean de Murienne in France, which is twinned with Tessalit. Click here to sign the petition.
TINARIWEN 'BEST AFRICAN BAND' 2008 IN ROLLING STONE
Tinariwen were nominated the best African Band of 2008 in America's bible of rock, Rolling Stone recently. Alongside a six page feature in the UK's Q Magazine, this represents a further step in the band's general move out of the 'world music' ghetto and into the wilder borderless landscape of rock. As Miles Davis once said: "There are only really two genres of music. Good music and bad music." Right on Miles.
HOUSES AND GARDENS IN TESSALIT
Two founder members of Tinariwen, Ibrahim 'Abaraybone' and the Lion of the Desert, Hassan 'Abin Abin', are putting down roots in the beautiful oasis village of Tessalit in the far far north east of Mali, just a 100 km south of the Algerian border. Both Hassan and Ibrahim were born into nomad families who lived not far from Tessalit. They have decided to return to their roots to experience the peace and quiet that is getting increasingly hard to enjoy in the boomtown of Kidal.
Ibrahim has brought a sizeable plot of land by the main river on the eastern outskirts of town where he is building a garden, replete with well and irrigation system. Hassan is building a house in the centre of town. The gardens of Tessalit produce delicious fruit and vegetables, including carrots, onions, beetroot, mangoes and dates.
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SUMMER TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED
Tinariwen started touring at the end of April and will go right through to the end of August, with a five-week break from June 8th to July 15th. Whilst a few more dates are to be added, especially in the second half of the tour, the schedule is almost complete:
MAY
11 HUNGARY, Budapest - The Palace of Arts
14 UK, London - Jazz Café
15 UK, London - Jazz Café
16 UK, Bradford - St George's Hall
17 UK, Perth - Concert Hall
18 UK, Glasgow - The Arches
20 UK, Pontardawe - Arts Centre
21 UK, Cardiff - The Point
22 UK, Bristol - Colston Hall
23 UK, Hay-on-Wye - Hay Literature Festival
24 UK, Birmingham - Town Hall
25 UK, Salisbury - Salisbury Festival
28 SWEDEN, Stockholm - Berns
29 NORWAY, Oslo - Rockerfeller
30 NORWAY, Bergen - Bergen Music Fest
JUNE
1 GERMANY, Hamburg - Fabrik
4 CROATIA, Zagreb - INmusic Festival
5 AUSTRIA, Vienna - Szene
JULY
16 SYRIA, Damascus - La Citadelle
18 SLOVAKIA, Trencin - Pohoda Festival
19 GERMANY, Munich - City Festival
20 UK, Larmer Tree - Larmer Tree Festival
21 IRELAND, Cork - Cork Festival
22 IRELAND, Galway - Galway Festival
24 UK, Nottinham - Rock City
26 GREECE, Thessaloniki - Sani Festival
AUGUST
2 GERMANY, Koblenz - Horizonte Festival
10 REUNION - Festival Sakifo
13 FRANCE, St Brevin - Festival La Déferlante
14 FRANCE, St Hilaire - Festival la Déferlante
22 GERMANY, Hanover - State Opera House
23 HOLLAND, Amsterdam - Paradiso
27 UK, Falmouth - Falmouth Pavillion
28 UK, Frome - Cheese & Grain
29 IRELAND, Stradbally - Electric Picnic
LIVE DVD DUE IN JUNE
The release of Tinariwen's Live DVD has been postponed until June this year. The concert which was filmed at London's Shepherds Bush Empire last December will be accompanied by fly-on-the-wall sequences of the band in the desert and on tour in Europe plus a unique 50 minute in-depth interview with Tinariwen's founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, in which he talks candidly about his own experiences as a young exile in Algeria and Libya. 'Cler Achel' by Tinariwen also features on a forthcoming double DVD compilation of the performances from the last 15 years of BBC 2's Jools Holland Show.
TINARIWEN CLINCH IMPALA SILVER DISC FOR OVER 30,000 SALES IN THE UK
Tinariwen were awarded a silver disc in February 2008 by the Independent Music Companies Association IMPALA, for over 30,000 sales of their album 'Aman Iman: Water Is Life' in the United Kingdom. The band was also awarded the Praetorius Friedensmusikpreis by government of Lower Saxony in Germany. This special award recognizes an exceptional contribution to a people or a cause by a musician or group. There will be a gala prize-giving ceremony at the State Opera House in Hanover on August 22nd.
FOLLOW UP TO 'AMAN IMAN' ON THE HORIZON
Independiente have picked up the option to release the follow-up to Tinariwen's award winning album 'Aman Iman: Water Is Life'. Heated discussion and debate is already underway as to when and where and how the album should be recorded, although the band clearly favour a return to their home territory to try and recapture some of the 'eccentric' magic of their first album 'The Radio Tisdas Sessions'. At time of writing it looks like the new album will be recorded in December 2008 and released worldwide in May 2009... but this is only a rough forecast at this stage.
TINARIWEN WEB LINKS
Follow the links below for further, and regularly updated, information on Tinariwen.
Official
MySpace
Facebook
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