A group of Tuareg musicians dressed in light blue robes were playing by a campfire that cast dancing shadows on the red sand. A drum and violin accompanied the electric guitars as more people came to watch the band, called Aitma.
Every February, the city of Ségou, 140 miles (230km) north of the capital, Bamako, is transformed into Mali’s cultural hub as tens of thousands of people come to enjoy a week-long arts and music festival, Ségou’Art, on the banks of the Niger River.
“We are here to meet each other,” said Aitma’s band manager, Mohamed Mitta. “When we share our culture, we remember that we are one people, even if politics divides us.”
In 2012, Mitta’s band members fled the northern desert city of Timbuktu with their families to escape the advancing jihadists. Part of the Tuareg population had taken up arms alongside groups linked to al-Qaida to fight for an independent state in northern Mali, as several jihadist groups spread throughout Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, pitting...
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