As part of the SAHARA PEACE HUBS initiative “A House for the Music of the Sahara” promoted by Ara Pacis and the Noor Foundation in collaboration with Jovanotti, Bombino – a great Tuareg musician – and Tinariwen – the desert singers and fathers of desert blues – the construction of a Music Center in Niamey, the capital of the Sahel, has been announced.
The aim is to enhance the history and musical heritage of the local area and to create learning and production opportunities for young talents through a school, coordinated by Masters, and a recording studio. That’s not all: there will be theatrical performances, concerts, film screenings, visual exhibitions, workshops, and traditional arts and crafts labs. The Center will have a second location in Agadez, in the heart of the desert, to offer musicians from all over the Sahara a chance for artistic and professional growth.
To celebrate and commemorate this significant event, Jovanotti, Bombino, and Tinariwen—local and global legends awarded at the Grammys—will perform together for the first time on Friday, December 2nd at the Festival de l’Aïr, the historic gathering of the Tuareg people in Iferouane, in the heart of the Saharan Ténéré, in northern Niger, which is being held again after a long period of forced hiatus.
Mutual hospitality and music as a tool of brotherhood and celebration of life are the pillars of this strong bond that led to the implementation of the project conceived by Ara Pacis: a dream soon to become a reality.
