Khaira Arby

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

Khaira Arby
In 2012
Background information
Born	(1959-09-21)21 September 1959 Timbuktu,Mali Federation
Died	19 August 2018(2018-08-19)(aged 58) Bamako,Mali
Occupation	Traditional Malian singer
Instrument	Vocals

Early life

Arby was the daughter of aTuaregfather and aSonghaimother. 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 ofTimbuktu.During the presidency ofMoussa Traoré,cultural policy safeguarded and developed traditional Malian culture.

Arby left Timbuktu to join the artistic troupe ofGao,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 groupBadema Nationalafter 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 Statesand performed atPop Montrealin 2010 and theMontreal International Jazz Festivalin 2011.

In 2012,jihadists,with the help of Tuareg ex-mercenaries returning from Libya,invaded northern Maliand seized theSahel.Arby took exile, settling temporarily inBamako.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,Bambaraand 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 againstfemale genital mutilation.Musically, she mixed traditional instrumentation, using for examplen'goni,njarkaand 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.