ACCES highlights: Tamikrest

2 Oct 2017 - 19:03

Tuareg band Tamikrest has been announced as the latest act to perform at the Music In Teranga concert, which happens as part of the Music In Africa Conference For Collaborations, Exchange And Showcases (ACCES).

Tuareg band Tamikrest will be performing at the Music In Teranga concert in Dakar, Senegal, on 18 November.

The desert blues band has been making a big impression on the world music scene this year. In March, the band released the highly acclaimed album Kidal through Glitterbeat Records.

“Kidal talks about dignity,” frontman Ousmane Ag Mossa said about the band’s fifth studio effort. “We consider the desert as an area of freedom to live in. But many people consider it as just a market to sell to multinational companies, and for me that is a major threat to the survival of our nomadic people.”

The band, which is seen by many as the heir of legendary Grammy-winning Malian group Tinariwen, has also been touring extensively this year and will embark on an October European tour to France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Croatia and Spain before heading to Place du Souvenir in Dakar, Senegal, to play the Music In Teranga concert at Teranga Jam Fest on 18 November.

The band’s performance is part of ACCES, a pan-African conference that will see players from around the world discuss the state of the music industry on the continent. ACCES is one of the Music In Africa Foundation’s offline activities, which also includes the Music In Africa Connects (MIAConnects) development project that focuses on the music scenes of African countries affected by conflict. One such country is Mali where Tamikrest was formed in 2006 and where ethnic clashes have seen many artists in the musically rich West African nation ostracised.

Tamikrest joins Moh Dediouf (Senegal), R-Light (Côte d’Ivoire), Prestation Danse “Hop @ Home” (Senegal), Mamy Kanouté (Senegal) and Cheikh Lô (Senegal) at the Music In Teranga concert.

About Teranga Jam Fest

Teranga Jam Fest is a cultural diplomacy-based music and performing arts festival that will take place for the first time in Dakar. The first edition focuses on West African artists with a view to create a bridge between traditional and modern music.

About ACCES

The Music In Africa Conference For Collaborations, Exchange And Showcases (ACCES) is an annual music conference that hosts industry players from across the African continent. ACCES 2017 will be held in Dakar, Senegal, on 17 and 18 November and will see music professionals converge on the Senegalese capital to exchange ideas, discover new talent and accelerate the shaping of the music sector on the continent. The conference offers training workshops, panel discussions, presentations, networking sessions, exhibitions, showcases, concerts and visits to key music industry hubs in Dakar.