Watch the video with Tinariwen chanting “Arawan” on TikTok.
It often happens that the group TINARIWEN is incorrectly presented as a Tuareg musical group from Mali, without mentioning the complex circumstances of their creation. In reality, the group was founded by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib (Abaraybone) in reaction to the execution of his father in Tessalit by the Malian army.
It is through their music that Tinariwen pays tribute to his father and denounces the injustices suffered by the Tuaregs in Azawad. It is essential to emphasize that the group has never benefited from the support of the Malian state, contrary to what one might believe.
It is therefore regrettable to reduce Tinariwen to a simple geographical label and to ignore the political and social issues that have shaped their music.
Rhissa Ag
This noble group does not deserve all these lies claiming that they are “Malian”. Sometimes it`s done by pure ignorance but not always. It´s also done in an evil attempt to erase and wipe out the Azawadian Touareg culture. The Azawad flag that they brandish is their identity.
It is not the flag of Mali. You will never see Tinariwen waving the flag of Mali. They are not Malian and never will be.
What is this song that they sing throughout their world tours where we see the group as well as the public, proudly displaying and waving the flag of Azawad?
Oh yes… the song is called Azawad. And it has been recorded in a new version recently.
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“The nomads of the bush suffer terribly from thirst, much more than the city dwellers. They lack everything: clothes, medical care. Desperate, they wonder what to do, who to help. They wait for help. Arawan to Kidal to Adar_inboukar. Egadez, Kidal, Tamanrasset, Ingal, lands of the Imouhag, with whom they have deep ties. These lands are rich in gazelles, dromedaries and beautiful women”
Tinariwen “Arawan” Album Amassakoul
Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, (Abraybon) founder and leader of Tinariwen witnessed the assassination of his father by the Malian state in Tessalit. He was only between 5 and 8 years old. A horrible crime, and which led him to create revolutionary music that will accompany the struggle until independence of Azawad.
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