Fatoumata Diawara (, born 21 February 1982) is a Malian singer-songwriter and actress currently living in France.
Diawara began her career as an actress in theatre and in film, including Genesis (1999), Sia, The Dream of the Python (2001) and Timbuktu (2014). She later launched a career in music, collaborating with numerous artists and releasing three studio albums beginning with 2011 debut Fatou. Diawara's music combines traditional Wassoulou with international styles.
Early life Diawara was born in 1982 in the Ivory Coast to Malian parents. As an adolescent, she was sent back to their native Bamako in Mali to be raised by an aunt. When she was eighteen, Diawara moved to France to pursue acting. She briefly returned to Mali for a film role, but fled back to Paris to avoid being coerced into marriage by her family.
Film and theatre After moving to France, Diawara appeared in Cheick Oumar Sissoko's 1999 feature film Genesis, Dani Kouyaté's popular 2001 film Sia, le rêve du python, and in the internationally renowned street theatre troupe Royal de Luxe. She also played a leading role in the stage adaptation of the musical Kirikou et Karaba.Chabasseur, Eglantine. "Fatoumata Diawara Reinvented" , RFI musique, 8 April 2009, accessed 8 June 2011.
Simultaneously with pursuing her musical career, Diawara has continued her cinematic activities, with numerous roles, appearances, and musical input in multiple feature films, including in Timbuktu, which won seven César Award nods and an Academy Award nomination in 2014.
Musical career Diawara took up the guitar and began composing her own material, writing songs that blend Wassoulou traditions of southern Mali with international influences., BBC Radio 3, 13 November 2010, accessed 8 June 2011. She has said that she is "the first female solo electric guitar player in Mali".
Diawara has performed or recorded with Malian and international stars such as Cheick Tidiane Seck, Oumou Sangaré,Cummings, Tim. "Oumou Sangare, Barbican Hall, London" , The Independent, 28 April 2009, accessed 8 June 2011. AfroCubism,Phillips, Glyn. "AfroCubism" , WorldMusic.co.uk, accessed 8 June 2011. Dee Dee Bridgewater (on Red Earth: A Malian Journey),Stoudmann, Elisabeth. "Fatoumata Diawara: Nouvelle deesse malienne". Vibrations, June 2011 and the Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou.Denselow, Robin. "Orchestre Poly-Rythmo: Cotonou Club" , The Guardian, 24 March 2011, accessed 8 June 2011. The EP Kanou was released 9 May 2011. She wrote every song on her debut album Fatou from World Circuit Records that released in September 2011. (Nonesuch Records released the Kanou EP digitally in North America on 27 September 2011, and the album Fatou on 28 August 2012).
In September 2012, Diawara was featured in a campaign called "30 Songs / 30 Days" to support Half the Sky, a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's book. September 2012 also saw her board the Africa Express Train with Damon Albarn, Rokia Traoré, Baaba Maal, Amadou & Mariam, Nicolas Jaar, and the Noisettes, amongst many others. The show culminated in a 4.5k venue in Kings Cross where Fatoumata performed with Paul McCartney.
Diawara has spent recent years touring the world, with a landmark performance for the English-speaking public at the 2013 Glastonbury Festival. Alongside many European gigs, her schedule has taken her to South America, Asia and Australia, as well as on multiple trips to the US, where in September 2013 she performed as part of the Clinton Global Initiative alongside The Roots in New York. Since mid-2014 she has collaborated with Roberto Fonseca, with numerous live performances and a joint live album, At Home - Live in Marciac, along the way. In 2014 she also performed with Mayra Andrade and Omara Portuondo. February 2015 saw her first live concert as an established international star in Mali, her home country, Festival sur le Niger in Ségou, where she shared the stage once again with her long-time friend and mentor, Oumou Sangaré, Bassekou Kouyate, and many other domestic Malian acts.
Diawara was featured in the 2020 Gorillaz single "Désolé", which later appeared on their album Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez. She performed a Tiny Desk home concert in February 2022. Later that year, she published the album Maliba, created as a soundtrack for a Google Arts and Culture project to digitise manuscripts held in Timbuktu. The album was characterised by The Economist as "a wondrous work of cultural preservation from one of the biggest names in contemporary African music"."The best albums of 2022", The Economist (1 December 2022).
Style Noted for her "sensuous voice,"Forgan, Kat. "Staff Brenda Bilili". "Songlines", July 2011, p. 104-105. Diawara sings primarily in Bambara, the national language of Mali, and builds on the tradition of "songs of advice" from the culture of her ancestral Wassoulou region. In her songs, Diawara has addressed issues such as the pain of emigration; a need for mutual respect; the struggles of African women; life under the rule of religious fundamentalists, and the practice of female circumcision. One song that exemplifies her focus on these topics is "Mali-ko (Peace/La Paix)", a seven-minute song and video that criticises the fundamentalist conquest of Northern Mali and urges unity to quell resentment against the Tuareg minority whom some blamed for abetting the incursion. Diawara said about the song, ""I needed to scream with this song, 'Wake up! We are losing Mali! We are losing our culture, our tradition, our origins, our roots!.
Recognition and awards She received two nominations at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards for Best World Music Album for her album Fenfo and Best Dance Recording for "Ultimatum" in which she was featured with the English band Disclosure.
Filmography
1996: Taafe Fanga by Adama Drabo 1999: La Genèse by Cheick Oumar Sissoko: Dina 2002: Sia, le rêve du python by Dani Kouyaté: Sia 2008: Il va pleuvoir sur Conakry, by Cheick Fantamady Camara: Siré 2010: Encourage, by Eleonora Campanella 2010: Ni brune ni blonde, by Abderrahmane Sissako 2011: Les Contes de la Nuit, by Michel Ocelot (voice) 2013: The Africa Express, by Renaud Barret and Florent de La Tulle: Herself 2014: Timbuktu (Le chagrin des oiseaux), by Abderrahmane Sissako 2015: Morbayassa, by Cheick Fantamady Camara: Bella 2016: Mali Blues, by Lutz Gregor: Herself 2019: Yao, by Philippe Godeau: Gloria
Stage performances 1998: Antigone by Sophocles; adapted by Jean-Louis Sagot Duvauroux, production Sotiguy Kouyaté 2002–2008: Royal de Luxe; creator Jean-Luc Courcoult 2007–2008: Kirikou et Karaba: Karaba
Discography Albums 2011: Fatou (World Circuit/Nonesuch) 2015: At Home - Live in Marciac, Fatoumata Diawara & Roberto Fonseca (Jazz Village) 2018: Fenfo (Something to Say) (Wagram Music/Shanachie Records) 2022: Maliba ("Mali Magic" Soundtrack on Google Arts and Culture) (3ème Bureau/Wagram Music) 2023: London Ko (3ème Bureau/Wagram Music) 2026: Massa (No Format!)
Singles and EPs 2011: Kanou EP (World Circuit/Nonesuch)
Collaborations 2009: Featured in the album Léman by Blick Bassy 2010: Co-authoring and featuring in the album Debademba by Debademba 2010: Featured in The Imagine Project by Herbie Hancock 2010: Featured in the album Jamm by Cheikh Lô 2010: Featured in the song "N'fletoun" from the Djekpa La You album by Dobet Gnahoré 2011: Featured in the song "C'est lui ou c'est moi" from the Cotonou Club album by Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou 2012: Featured in Rocket Juice & the Moon (Honest Jon's - Album) 2012: Featured in the song "Bibisa" from the album Yo by Roberto Fonseca 2012: Featured in the song "Nothin' Can Save Ya" from the album The Bravest Man In The Universe by Bobby Womack 2013: Featured in the song "Surma" from the Sketches of Ethiopia album by Mulatu Astatke 2014: Co-authoring and featured in the song "Timbuktu Fasso" from the Timbuktu soundtrack by Amine Bouhafa 2014: Featured in the song "It's all coming together" by Walter Hus from the soundtrack to feature film N - The Madness of Reason by Peter Krüger 2018: Featured in the song "Ultimatum" by Disclosure 2019: Featured in the song "Cameroon" by Bonaparte (singer) 2020: Featured in the song "Désolé" by Gorillaz 2020: Featured in the song "Douha (Mali Mali)" by Disclosure 2021: Featured in the song "Black Woman" with Lauryn Hill, from the soundtrack to The Harder They Fall 2022: Featured in the song 'Tama' with Barbara Pravi
with Les blayeurs du désert Via association with Royal de Luxe; several of the songs had been played as accompaniment in Royal de Luxe's 'giant marionettes' street performances throughout the world. 2005: Jules Verne Impact by Les Balayeurs du désert (apast – Album) (Y Danse, Hamleti...) 2007: La Pequeña by Les Balayeurs du désert (Atelier de l'événement – Album) (with an early version of Salimata)
Awards and nominations +Award CeremonyYearWorkCategoryResultBerlin Music Video Awards2023NseraBest Art DirectorWin
References
Further reading "Fatoumata Diawara: «my music is a combination of my roots interpreted from my modern perspective»" 2022 interview
External links
BBC Radio 3 - World Routes, November 13, 2010, accessed 8 June 2011. "Field Report: Festival Sur le Niger 2015" by Tom Pryor , accessed 11 November 2015. Chabasseur, Eglantine. "Fatoumata Diawara Reinvented", RFI musique, 8 April 2009, accessed 8 June 2011. Cummings, Tim. "Oumou Sangare, Barbican Hall, London", The Independent, 28 April 2009, accessed 8 June 2011. Denselow, Robin. "Orchestre Poly-Rythmo: Cotonou Club", The Guardian, 24 March 2011, accessed 8 June 2011. Forgan, Kat. "Staff Brenda Bilili". Songlines, July 2011, pp. 104–105. Phillips, Glyn. "AfroCubism", WorldMusic.co.uk, accessed 8 June 2011.