International Women’s Day

On International Women’s Day we pay tribute to our mother Fatoumata Kouyaté Djéliguinet. and her group Djeliguinet et ses Enfants – without whom there would be no Successors of the Mandingue. It is rare to find women griot in West Africa, but her father was ahead of his time and taught his daughter to play balafon as an infant. She in turn taught all her eight children (five girls and three boys) many who have become artists in their own right (including our very own N’famady Kouyate). Djeliguinet has toured the world and was selected as one of only two artists to perform at this year’s presidential inauguration in Guinea. Here is her all woman line-up sound-checking for an International Women’s Day event in Guinea last year – featuring her sister, daughters Mariama Kouyate & Fatoumata Djene Kouyaté, plus wider family members she has taught, nurtured, mentored and developed