The Tuareg festival of Anchawag A Tribal gathering in the Sahara featuring: Tinariwen, Tartit, Ali Farka Toure, Haira Arby And Traditional artists of the Region

January 10-13, 2006- Northern Mali www.anchawadj.free.fr [email protected] The preservation of the cultures of the Kel Tamasheq people of northern Mali has become a matter of grave concern to the Elders, artists, and community leaders. Now, for the first time in over 30 years, 45 nomadic tribes will unite in the biggest desert gathering known as “TAMUKEST” to celebrate their music traditions and raise awareness about their endangered cultural heritage. Using the 1995 Flame of Peace of Timbuktu as its symbol, the Tuareg festival will attract thousands from around the world to experience first-hand the artistic power, historical importance, and beauty of this threatened culture. The festival will feature musical performances, traditional dances, camel racing, desert poetry, traditional sport and games, holistic medicine, artisans’ products, hair braiding, henna tattoos, initiations, and much more. After a severe drought in 70’s which wrought havoc on their subsistence patterns and led to the exile of thousands of Tuaregs to neighboring countries, followed by a period of armed rebellion(1990-1995) and the more

recent commitment of the last decade to a lasting peace, the Tuaregs of Northern Mali are struggling to overcome poverty. Additionally, the Tuaregs are in dire need of schools for the education of their children, programs to empower their women and a consistent and safe supply of water. 1. MISSION:

The mission of the festival is to preserve the endangered cultures and traditions of the Tuareg people of northern Mali, celebrate “TAMUKEST”, the annual desert gathering of 45 nomadic tribes, and promote sustainable development in the region of Anshawag. 2. WHY ANOTHER TUAREG FESTIVAL IN MALI? Unlike other festivals in Mali, the festival of Anshawag is the first ever organized venue to bring to light the hidden and unexplored talents of the Tuareg and Songhoy traditional artists. Up to now, the world’s attention has been focused on the Malian-renown artists while many aspiring traditional artists are left forgotten. In addition, the festival will showcase ancient and traditional instruments on the verge of being lost that are typical to the celebrations of these populations. 3. THE FESTIVAL: A UNIQUE TRIBAL GATHERING IN THE DESERT The festival of Anchawag will be the first annual gathering, in over 30 years, of 45 desert tribes to celebrate their musical traditions since the 1968-1974 Sahel drought and famine which claimed the greatest human loss and the collapse of the food production system in northern Mali. The 2006 tribal gathering in the Sahara will be a unique presentation of purely traditional music by Tuareg and Songhoy artists alongside some of Mali’s well-known artists from the region. The event will be documented and released as a CD/DVD to spread awareness of these vanishing cultures and to create a basis for the development of much needed resources in the region in order to dig wells, build schools and health clinics. Anchawag is the site of a major Kel Tamachek settlement north of the famous city of Gao, the ancient capital of the Songhoy empire in the 15th and 16th centuries. For centuries, the Kel Tamachek lived in peace with the Songhoy people with whom they share a common space and cultural heritage. Contemporary music that originates from these cultures has come to be highly regarded around the world through Tuareg and Songhoy artists and other Malian artists whose music is bringing ancient traditions into the modern context. In recent years, Malian music has received an increasing

international recognition, both for its depth and diversity, and also as a widely acknowledged source of the origins of the blues music. The festival promises its guests a warm welcome rooted in the most ancient hospitality traditions of the desert called “EMUGORA”. That is to lavishly indulge the senses of your guests both in banquets and musical entertainment. In addition to “Emugora”, guests will be matched with and adopted by Tuareg families or tribes who will welcome them inside their tents. This strategy offers the guests a rare opportunity to go deeper into the cultural and musical experience of this fascinating region. Visitors will see and hear the chants of the graceful Tuareg women and traditional music performances. 4. THE KEL TAMACHEK PEOPLE: Because of the history of the trans-Saharan trade, Mali has often been the crossroad of different cultures. Descended form the Berber-speaking North Africans, the Kel Tamachek people or Tuaregs, with their distinctive garments, are known as the “blue men of the desert”, because of the indigo color often left on their skin by these garments. The Tuareg people are nomads who have been traveling their ancient desert caravan routes for centuries, journeying by camels and navigating by the stars. For generations, these fiercely independent people roamed the desert and never recognized the borders imposed upon their territories by European colonialists. They lived and traveled in open defiance to secular authority, and even rebelled in 1990 against the governments of Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Morocco. With the signing of the Peace Accord of 1995, and the lighting of the Flame of Peace in Timbuktu, the Malian government embarked on a new policy to empower the Tuaregs and other people of Northern Mali, and to draw attention to this unique and threatened culture in order to inspire international support. 5. U.S. PARTNERS: The festival is supported by the effort of friends and partners who are making substantial contributions to make the festival a success and help support its noble cause. The syndicated radio program, Afropop Worldwide(APWW), which for over 15 years has been the foremost presenter of contemporary African music to the US radio audience through NPR(National Public Radio), and

now through PRI (Public Radio International), will cover the Festival of Anshawag for radio and print media. APWW will also film intimate acoustic performances and interviews with artists as they did for "The Tent Sessions", a one-hour documentary which was produced in conjunction with Link TV from the Essakane 2003 Festival. www.afropop.org Link TV (Dish and Direct TV networks) and APWW have both expressed their interest in broadcasting an acceptable representation of the Festival, and will include the names of all private, public, or corporate funders of the Festival in these TV and radio broadcasts. www.linktv.org Markus James, whose recent, critically-acclaimed album and film "Timbuktoubab" were recorded and filmed in Northern Mali, will record the Festival for a CD/DVD release which will serve to promote future Anshawag festivals. International artists will be invited to participate in the Festival to help create a financial basis for local artists and the Tuareg tribes of Anshawag. www.firenzerecords.com 6. THE COUNTY OF ANSHAWAG: Anshawag is a county 65 miles into the desert North-East of Gao in northern Mali. This desert post was once a fertile and lush green valley inundated by the Anshawag River. Today, however, the River dried out and exists only as a common memory in the minds of the Tuareg people. Although Anshawag has lost its river to the sands of the desert, Anshawag remains an immense untapped reservoir of traditions, cultures and unexplored forms of music. Presently, there are 45 tribes sharing this geographic space and together they form a population of more than 10,000 people. 7. TRAVEL TO THE FESTIVAL: The festival starts on January 10th and ends January 13, 2006 at midnight. Travel arrangements to AG-DELINTA, the site of the festival, will be coordinated in Mali from Bamako, Mopti and Gao. Guests must be in Bamako or Mopti the latest by January 7, 2006 if they wish to use our travel services. The journey Bamako-Gao takes 12 hours by local buses and the journey Mopti-Gao takes 8 hours. The road is in good condition. GAO is the main rendezvous town from which guests will be transported to AGDELINTA on January 9, 2006. GAO-AGDELINTA is a 3 hours journey. From France to Mali, travel can be arranged with Air France or Point d’Afrique. Please contact these airlines and make your reservation as seats

are limited. From the U.S, fly to Paris and from Paris fly Point d’Afrique or Air France to Bamako, the capital of Mali. Guests must be in Bamako either on January 6th or 7th. In Bamako, we will pick you up from the Airport and take you to a hotel. Descent hotels cost anywhere from $80 and up a night. On January 8th, you will travel to Gao where you will overnight in one of our guest houses. On January 9th, we will head out for the festival’s camp grounds in AG-DELINTA. Round trip ground transportation Bamako-AGDelinta-Bamako is about $250 per person in a rented 4x4 Toyota SUV plus an additional $200 per individual for food on the way to and from the festival. For lodging and accommodations at the festival, please refer to the section below on fees and accommodation. For more details, visit our website at www.anchawadj.free.fr 8. ORGANIZING INSTITUTIONS: A. Government partners: The festival has been endorsed by the Malian government, the Ministry of Culture, the Malian National Assembly and the Ministry of Artisans and Tourism. The Vice President of the Malian National Assembly Mr. Assarid Ag Imbarcawan is the Honorary President of this event along with Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Ag Alhassane, Tuareg Tribal Chief as well as the Mayor of the Anshawag County. B. Principal Organizer: The TUAREG NGO TILWAT in partnership with the county of Anshawag presents their first Tuareg festival known as TAMUKEST under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Artisans and Tourism. C. Government Officers: Honorary President His Excellence Mr. Assarid Ag Imbarcaoune Vice President of the National Assembly of Mali Tel: (223) 675-2816 Vice President Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Ag Alhassane Mayor of Anshawag County Tel: (223) 619-7882

The festival Director in Mali Boubacar Ag Mohamed, Public Relations Officer, NGO Tilwat. Tilwat, BP: MA02, Telephone: (223) 674-4895. www.anchawadj.free.fr Email: [email protected] The festival Coordinator in the U.S. Mr. Issa ag Mohamed, Executive Director Timbuktu Heritage Institute Inc. Tel: (559) 661-1455 Email: [email protected] The festival Coordinator in France Michel Lombard Tel: 33 1 55 5223 08 Email: 9. PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES: A. Musical Performances The festival will feature both traditional artists of northern Mali and worldrenown Malian artists such as Grammy-winner Ali Farka Toure’(considered the African John Lee Hooker), Tinariwen(world famous for their desert music with a rock ’n’ roll style), Tartit(the mostly-female group whose sound signature blends Tuareg and west African traditions), Haira Arby(called the Nightingale of northern Mali), Marcus James(an American blues & rock artist whose recently critically-claimed Album and film “Timbuktoubab” were recorded and filmed in Northern Mali), and many more. Thus, traditional and modern music are on the menu: Guitar, Tehardent, Tinde, Issouwat, Emzad, Tissinsak, Takamba and sword dance. B. Other Activities 1. Camel racing with prizes 2. Tuareg traditional sports 3. Artisans product exposition 4. Story-telling around camp fire 5. Sight seeing and excursions on camel to discover Anshawag’s treasures 6. Symposiums on issues dealing with the Tuareg culture, children education, water and development.

10. FEES & ACCOMMODATION: There is a fee to be paid in order to gain access to the festival’s camp ground. For those who want to experience the Tuareg way of life, 300 euros are required to have access to all the amenities during the festival including access to events, lodging in an elaborate Tuareg Tent, food and mineral water. And if you want to bring your own tent and, water and food then a fee of 150 euros is required at the entrance. Please note that fees are in euros. 11. CONTACT INFORMATION: For English speaking guests, please contact Mr. Issa ag Mohamed in the U.S. at (559) 661-1455 or at his email: [email protected]. And for French speaking guests, please contact Mr. Boubacar Samake in Mali. His contact information is listed below. The desert awaits you. Thank you. Boubacar Samake’ Manager of the Festival TUAREG NGO TILWAT BP: MA02, Bamako, Mali Tel: (223) 674-4895 Email:[email protected] www.anchawadj.free.fr