Mali, a traveller’s dream. A colourful, multicultural country where the Dogon, Fulani, Bambara, Tuareg, Songhai, Senufo, Soninke, Bozo and Somono have lived together for centuries… between the Sahara and the Niger. They strike a delicate balance amongst themselves and between people and the vast, rugged natural world. They draw inspiration from one another whilst preserving their own identities. Perhaps this is the source of Mali’s magic and charm…
It is here that the legendary Timbuktu lies, the destination of desert caravans and scholars making the pilgrimage to the University of Sankoré. The River Niger flows through here, a river that long remained a mystery to geographers. It was here, in successive capitals, that the rulers of the medieval Mali Empire built their power, whilst Djenné astonished the world with its magnificent mud-brick mosque.
It is here that the griots have been singing their stories for centuries, and it is from their tradition that the great musicians of the Sahel draw inspiration: Ali Farka Touré, Toumani Diabaté, Rokia Traoré, Sona Jobarteh, Oumou Sangaré and Boubacar Traoré. Their music is full of space and passion, the swaying rhythm of a camel and the steady clatter of the mortar in which women pound millet at sunset… Mali is music.
During the show, I’ll take you to some extraordinary places. We’ll see the Dogon mask dance, meet the fortune-tellers of Youga Piri, sit down with the elders under a togu-na, sail down the Niger in a slender pinasse, in Ségou we’ll see how bogolans, painted with mud, are made, we’ll visit the market in Mopti, have a cup of tea in a Tuareg tent, and wander through the desert streets of Timbuktu. I invite you on a journey to Mali. Do come along.
Beata Lewandowska-Kaftan – an author, a geographer by training, and a woman who loves to travel. Over 20 years ago, she fell in love with Africa and continues to return there. She has travelled through Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar, Uganda, Ethiopia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, South Africa, Algeria and Morocco. Fascinated by Africa, she began to write about it. Her first book, *Africa is a Woman* (2016), was inspired by her fascination with the African women she met during her travels. Then, inspired by her amazement at the extraordinary Swahili culture, she wrote *Zanzibar – Treasure Island: Tales from the Swahili World* (2017 and 2023), for which she received the Magellan Award. Her next book, *The Touch of Africa* (2022 and 2025), is a collection of reportage from places in Africa that have left the deepest impression on her heart. Her latest book, *Marrakech – City of Saints and Stars* (2025) – also a Magellan Prize winner – is the result of numerous trips to Morocco, a country that enchanted her with its rich traditions and the warmth of its people.