Biennale

December 20 – December 30

We saw signs for the 'Biennale' in Kayes as early as October. Ever since, we have been anxiously awaiting yet another cultural festival. Since the '60s and more recently revived, the Biennale is held 'every other year' (or every couple) as an art and cultural event for the entire country. Since the new president, every Biennale is now held in a different city in Mali and this year it would be held in Kayes. (In addition, every city chosen to host the Biennale receives a statue of the infamous 'Biennale' mascot. It was constructed in one of the major roundabouts in Kayes.)

In the days preceding the opening ceremony, we went shopping for the official Biennale fabric. It was a hideous puke gold color, however we bought a pagne's (pronounced as pan ya) worth (a little over a meter) for our collection. (It is more common to buy fabric in increments of a pagne rather than a true meter.) Adding to our excitement, we were informed that the opening ceremony at the stadium would consist of camel races. We could hardly contain our excitement... our first camel races.

The day before the opening ceremony, Ashley, another volunteer who works with the tourism bureau in Kayes (OMATHO), invited us to a VIP-like dinner with live music at the Hotel du Rail in Kayes. We gladly accepted the invitation. After language class that Friday, we walked the hour to the Hotel du Rail in hopes of seeing some very important people. We also heard a free chicken dinner would be provided. Just the day before, Luis, another volunteer, told us that the president of Mali, Amadou Toumani Toure (ATT), would be attending the opening ceremony. We hoped to see him at the Hotel du Rail event but alas he was not yet in Kayes. We did see the Minister of Culture and were overly videotaped for a later television broadcast. (It is not uncommon while watching the national station (ORTM) to see footage of all the white people in attendance of whatever event is being broadcast.) We enjoyed the atmosphere and the Cuban inspired music that was performed. Unfortunately, on the walk home that night, I lost my phone.

We awoke on Saturday morning the 20th to the sound of drums off in the distance. During our pre-service training, we were advised that any time you hear drums... go to them. I will always follow this advice. As soon as we were awake, we were off for the day. We were led to the paved road in Kayes n'Di, where we found crowds and crowds of people lining the street for the arrival of the president. Instead of waiting for the president, we decided to go explore the city, which is one of our favorite things to do. We walked the streets all morning greeting everyone in our path. By early afternoon, we had already decided to head to the stadium since we assumed the camels were there. We stumbled upon a free photography exhibit of all the prior Biennale celebrations that was very well put together. We were actually able to learn some of the history of the Biennale, such as its mascot is the snail. In addition to a photography exhibit, every region created a display educating about the 'marriage rituals' of each region. At this point in the afternoon, we could see people filing into the stadium so we followed.

In Kayes, the stadium was built for a African Cup soccer tournament sometime in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, it has rarely been used since. (In fact, the house we live in was built to house soccer players for this tournament.) We arrived at the stadium about two hours early and found seats with backs in the shade, very key. Still, we had yet to see any camels, we were starting to question our intel. Although while we were waiting, we were entertained with performers from all the regions who were at the stadium early to practice. Finally around 4:30, we heard some official music... the president had arrived. Luckily, we had chosen seats right next to the VIP section where we were fairly certain the president would be. As he walked the track
around the stadium, all of the Malians around us stood, clapped and chanted 'A-T-T.' I had chills. We were within twenty feet of the president of Mali. After his arrival, we all sat back down and recomposed ourselves when all of a sudden we noticed the Malians around us looking up at the sky. At that very moment, a plane was flying overhead. (It is not uncommon for Malians to stare at airplanes as they do not see them very often.) We were less than excited to see an airplane in the sky, until we realized that it was surrounded by parachutes with the colors of the Malian flag. Yes, that's right, about six Malians were parachuting onto the soccer field in front of us. I got chills again. Just like many of the Malians, it was also my first time witnessing such a grand event. After the parachuting, we listened to the president speak about the fact that the problems of Mali are not only the problems of Kidal (the North), but that these problems affect all of Mali. We watched representatives from every region parade around the stadium. There were also several 'live performances' by local singers. (In Mali, 'live performances,' are all actually live lip synced performances.) Along with the parade, we were graced with performances from every region. By far, we enjoyed Kidal the most. To conclude the celebration, about fifty children in matching costumes performed a choreographed dance telling the story of the 'Manantali hippopotamus.' (In Bambara, the word 'Mali' means hippopotamus.)


















Throughout the ten days of the Biennale, there were different performances every night by artists from the different regions. Sometime during the week, while we were talking about the Biennale with Labas, our local language tutor, we told him that we took a picture of the president. Somehow, our conversation escalated to the topic of a picture with the president. We were told by Labas that if we ask the president for a picture, 'he cannot refuse.' While we were skeptical, we decided we had to try and we knew he was returning to Kayes for the closing ceremonies.

At the closing ceremony, a winner in each category (such as local dance, local music, drama, etc.) was named and then awarded cash prizes. To everyone's surprise, Tombouctou won the overall grand prize. (After the speech given by ATT, we wondered if it would be awarded to Kidal.) At the conclusion of the closing ceremony, much to our disappointment, we were unable to get a picture with the president. Not for lack of trying though, we pestered two different groups of guards who both chuckled and told us that a picture with the president 'was not possible.' Lucky for us, we still have a year and a half to keep on trying.