The death of Malian musician Ali Farka Touré in Bamako, the
country’s capital, from bone cancer, on March 7th, was reported
as a major world event. In Mali, President Amadou Toumani Touré
mourned the passing with an emotional epitaph, saying, “Farka is
a monument of Malian music, Farka is the pride of Mali,” and
acknowledging his contribution to his country by posthumously
awarding him the Order of Merit. Government radio stations
suspended regular programming to play Touré’s music, newspapers
ran full-page tributes, and thousands attended memorial
ceremonies in Bamako and his hometown of Niafunké, where he was
buried. There were obituaries throughout the world press, and in
the U.K., his death was described on prime-time TV as the
passing of a major cultural figure. His birth, in 1939, itself
proved to be a significant event. The first child to survive
after nine infant deaths, he was nicknamed Farka in accordance
with a tradition of making a child unpopular with the spirits,
in this case by giving him a nic