Tiken Jah Fakoly - Deberlinisierungskonferenz

In the organizer's words:

Due to his unique combination of reggae, oral cultures and social awareness, Tiken Jah Fakoly is considered one of the most distinctive voices in the current musical landscape. Originally from Odienné in the northwest of Côte d'Ivoire, he founded his first reggae band in the 1980s and called it Les Djelis: the Griots. From the outset, he saw his music as a continuation of this rich tradition of singers and storytellers. The aspiration to pass on knowledge and stand up for his convictions runs through Fakoly's entire oeuvre. In the political conflicts of the early 1990s, he became an important figure for the Ivorian youth, clearly naming injustices in his songs and standing up for self-empowerment. However, he was also repeatedly attacked for this stance and decided to leave Côte d'Ivoire for Mali in 2002.

In his song "Plus rien ne m'étonne" (Nothing surprises me anymore) from 2004, Fakoly denounced the military barter deals and the eye-for-an-eye policy of the global powers. He also referred to the colonial division of the African continent and its consequences, which continue to the present day. Twenty years later, he re-recorded the song in an acoustic version to reinforce his statement, which has only increased in urgency: "They divided the world, nothing surprises me anymore. They divided Africa, over our heads. And now they are surprised that we are divided!"

Tiken Jah Fakoly, on the other hand, stands for cohesion and the idea of pan-Africanism with his music and his personality. With this in mind, he will be performing at the Deberlinization Conference with his ten-piece reggae band as a musical highlight of the programme.