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Desert Blooms
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Star Tribune, Desert Blooms >>
Ensemble Tartit, with its blend of tradition and utilitarianism, gives voice to the refugee women of North Africa
Since forming in the mid '90's, the members of the North African group Ensemble Tartit have streamlined their operation a bit.
"Some live in Bamako (Mali's capital) now. That way, when we go on tour, we don't have to search in desert t find everybody," Tartit member Fadimata Walett Oumar told the Toronto Star.
The members are Tuareg, a nomadic people who inhabit the southwestern fringes of the Sahara desert. Independent and suspicious of attempts at urbanization, the Tuareg have been in conflict with impatient governments for much of the past half-century.
In 1991, after a series of droughts compounded as escalating civil war, Oumar and thousands of others fled Mali for the static tedium of a refugee camp in Burkina Faso. There, an aid worker heard a small group of women singing and proceeded to track down a list of musicians that Oumar knew- each fellow Tuaregs, scattered in surrounding refugee camps. Tartit, meaning "union," was born.
It's a multifarious thing, the uncertain identity of a refugee: at once devastating confusion and opportunity for growth. Behind lies tradition- the comfortable and proven. Ahead and all around is a new culture- that which pulses and pushes the future identity.
Tuareg musical traditions are an ideal tool to address both past and the present. Tartit's music is intrinsically, emotionally traditional. Those traditions, however, stipulate a utilitarian slant: Songs relate legend and history, teach everyday issues such as hygiene, act as communal bulletin board.
Hence, the members have felt free to adapt.
"As the world of the Tuareg is changing, we need to sing about current situations," Oumar said.
While vocals are the focus, austere instrumentation maintains a steady, trancelike anchor with the traditional past. Most prominent is the uniquely Tuareg tinde drum, made from a simple goatskin-covered mortar and played only by women. The violinlike imzad is similarly practical in construction: half a gourd, with a single horsehair string. It's also played by women. In addition, the group has adopted the teharden, a three-stringed lute played only by men.
Gender dynamics are an important component of Tartit. This is clearly, powerfully, music by women, for everyone. Traditional Tuareg society is matriarchal, and Oumar claims that modern Tuareg women are the freest in Africa. On stage, as in daily life, it is the Tuareg men who cover their faces.
Nevertheless, there is a real sense of communal dynamics in this music. Unlike most Western music, wherein a clear distinction is felt between performer and audience, Tartit's strung-out energies seem to be constantly emanating from the inclusiveness of a séance circle. This feeling is propelled by call-and-response lyrics and excitedly expressive yelps, like forest noises rising in the twilight.
Ultimately, Tartit's most lasting contribution might come by nudging its musical heritage from communal to international bulletin board.
"Before Tartit existed," Oumar said, "it was other people talking about Tuareg culture- tourists, musicologists- but now it is us."
-Carey L. Biron 04/11/03
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