13th edition
21 – 23 September 2022
Florence, PARC Performing Arts Research Centre, Teatro Puccini, LUMEN

The Festival au Désert Firenze was born in 2010 from the collaboration between the Festival au Désert of Mali and the Fondazione Fabbrica Europa, and works to host the great names of world music and make known the best of current music, in particular from Mali, North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, in an open dialogue with the ambassadors of international artistic “nomadism”.
The 2022 edition is characterized by the presence of one of the great names of Malian music, the extraordinary Oumou Sangaré, for an immersion in the solar depths of his voice and his music.
The festival also offers meetings and workshops and, thanks to the collaboration with Lumen, the concert of the Franco-Moroccan group produced by Peter Gabriel’s Real World: Bab L’Bluz.

Programme

WORKSHOP ALMAR’À
21 SEPTEMBER · h 18
LUMEN · Florence

The Tunisian musician Ziad Trabelsi, voice and oud of the Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio, together with some members of the project Almar’à – the orchestra of Arab and Mediterranean women, introduce the participants to a scenario made up of traditional songs to tell the experience started in 2017 between Florence and Rome and to understand the functioning of a heterogeneous group that involves musicians of different traditions and origins.
Read all >>

LUCA RAINERI
Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa
MALI: A GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS ON THE INDEPENDENCE DAY (1960)
22 SEPTEMBER · h 18
PARC · Florence

A meeting with Luca Raineri, researcher in security studies. His work is focused on critical studies about security and conflicts. In particular, he investigates the relevant transnational phenomenons as smuggling, crime and terrorism, concerning Africa, European boarders and the general external action of European Union.
Read all >>

BAB L’BLUZ
Live
22 SEPTEMBER · h 21
LUMEN · Florence

Bab L’Bluz (literally “The door of the Blues”) is a Franco-Moroccan group created at the end of 2018 in Marrakech, Morocco. It is a music group inspired by the Gnawa tradition, combining rock, psychedelic sounds and blues. Mid 2017, they composed together what will be the first album of Bab L’ Bluz, a new repertoire of 10 powerful and current music titles, while respecting the analogical universe of the 60′s & 70′s. n 2020 their album “Nayda!” was released; they won the Songlines best band award and performed at Womex.
Read all >>

OUMOU SANGARÉ
Timbuktu
23 SEPTEMBER · h 21
TEATRO PUCCINI · Florence

Oumou Sangaré is renowned worldwide for her vibrant and powerful music, which often features revolutionary messages about women’s rights, tradition and poverty.
Since the release of her debut album “Moussoulou” in 1989, there’s been no respite for the Malian singer. Notable waymarks on her rich and fruitful journey include some of the most definitive recordings in the history of contemporary African music: “Ko Sira” in 1993, “Worotan” in 1996 and “Seya” in 2009, the latter nominated for a Grammy Award. Counting among her many notable fans Alicia Keys, Aya Nakamura and Beyoncé (who sampled the classic “Diaraby Nene” for her 2019 Lion King release), Sangaré has long since broken through barriers separating continents and musical styles.
Read all >>

Festival au Désert Firenze is one the events Estate Fiorentina 2022, in collaboration with PARC Performing Arts Research Centre, Teatro Puccini, LUMEN, BPM Concerti, Musicalista

Video