Khaira Arby, known as The Nightingale of Timbuktu (21 September 1959 – 19 August 2018), was a Malian singer.

Early life

Arby was the daughter of a

Tuareg The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...

father and a Songhai mother. She began singing at a young age for weddings and traditional festivals, and at the age of eleven, began singing in a musical troupe from the city of

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census. ...

. During the presidency of

Moussa Traoré Moussa Traoré (25 September 1936 – 15 September 2020) was a Malian military officer, politician, and dictator who served as the second President of Mali from 1968 to 1991. As a lieutenant, he led the military ousting of President Modibo Ke� ...

, cultural policy safeguarded and developed traditional Malian culture. Arby left Timbuktu to join the artistic troupe of

Gao Gao (or Gawgaw/Kawkaw) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an imp ...

, a town 400 km to the east. Her father and her husband tried to make her give up her artistic career, but she resumed musical activity in the group Badema National after a break. Arby divorced her reluctant husband and remarried later.

Career

In 1992, Arby started a career under her own name, the first Malian woman to do so. In 2010, she gained recognition beyond Mali and her music received a favorable reception in North America. She toured the United States and performed at

Pop Montreal POP Montreal is an annual List of music festivals, music festival occurring in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the early fall, usually at the end of September or the beginning of October. More than 400 bands are scheduled to play in more than 50 ve ...

in 2010 and the

Montreal International Jazz Festival The Festival international de Jazz de Montréal is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz festival. Every year it features roughly 3,000 ar ...

in 2011. In 2012,

jihadists Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Islamic movements that seek to establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation is an efficient and theologically legit ...

, with the help of Tuareg ex-mercenaries returning from Libya, invaded northern Mali and seized the

Sahel The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

. Arby took exile, settling temporarily in

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

. In Timbuktu, jihadists threatened her family and destroyed her instruments. Three years later, in 2015, she returned to Timbuktu. She said "Our religion has never banned music. The Prophet was greeted with songs when he arrived in Mecca. Cutting music is like keeping us from breathing. But we keep fighting, and it's going to go, inch'Allah."

Works

Arby wrote and sang in the indigenous languages of the region: Songhai,

Tamachek Tamashek or Tamasheq is a variety of Tuareg, a Berber macro-language widely spoken by nomadic tribes across North and West Africa in Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Tamasheq is one of the three main varieties of Tuareg, the others bein ...

, Bambara and Arabic. She had a scratchy voice. Her words addressed sensitive issues. While Tuareg rebellions followed one another in 1990–1996, 2006, and 2007–2009, she advocated peace. She sang about the rights of women to autonomy, training, happiness and fulfillment, and also against

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. Prevalence of female ge ...

. Musically, she mixed traditional instrumentation, using for example n'goni,

njarka The ''njarka'' ( Koyraboro Senni: nzarka) is a small fiddle made from a gourd, with one gut string, which is native to Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by a ...

and drums with electric instrumentation.

Death

Arby died on August 19, 2018, in a hospital in Bamako. Her son said she had been treated for heart problems.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arby, Khaira 1959 births 2018 deaths People from Timbuktu 20th-century Malian women singers 21st-century Malian women singers Zarma-Songhai people