Mohamed Abellaw
I began to study music at the age of 5.
My primary teacher was my father and I was motivated of being like him.
He was very famous in our country and when I grew up, I had the ambition of becoming a source of happiness to the country as was my father.
Music unites people from all beliefs and nationalities.
That’s why I decided to be a musician
Mohamed Ag AbellAw
photo: John Kalapo @RicheAfrique (used by permission)
Mohamed ag Abellaw lives in Timbuktu Mali. He was born in 1992 to a family of well-known Tuareg musicians. His father, Abellow Yattara, has performed with many celebrated Malian musicians as well as fronting his own group, Ali Bilali Soudan. Mohamed’s grandfather forged the ceremonial swords used by men in traditional dance performances. His great uncle, Abu Keina, can be heard on the seminal 1970 recording “Le Mali des Sables - Les Songoy” one of the first anthologies of recorded Malian music. Instruments from the Yattara family are in the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.
Mohamed began to study music with his father at the age of 5. He continues to learn from his father and also from other traditional musicians in the area. He performs regularly with the groupe Al Bilali Soudan and with the Regional Orchestre de Tombouctou. He has performed with that Orchestre at the National Biennale which held every two years in Bamako.
Al Bilali Soudan recently performed during the Festival Vivre Ensemble held in Timbuktu and organized by the US Embassy in Mali. Mohamed rehearses and collaborates with friends and colleagues at festivals, weddings, parties and celebrations around the region. He is part of the young generation dedicated to keeping his cultural heritage alive with a conviction that music unites people from all beliefs and nationalities.
“That’s why I decided to be a musician” - Mohamed Abellaw