The production of resources and events to showcase and promote Saharawi arts and culture is an important component of Sandblast’s work. In this section, we  highlight the 2007 Sandblast Festival, our first major event produced to bring the story of the Saharawis to UK-wide audiences  and feature the  artistic merchandise we produced for it. We also  share here the ideas we currently have in the pipeline, to  stimulate interest, collaboration and support.

2007 Sandblast Festival

Nov 2-4, at Rich Mix, London

London’s first-ever festival celebrating Saharawi arts and culture took place in November 2007 after 3 long years of hard fundraising and preparations.

Over 18 Saharawi artists from refugee camps in SW Algeria were invited to the UK by Sandblast to participate in the three-day Festival at Rich Mix in London’s East End. TIRIS, the sensational eight-member Saharawi music and dance band, brought the house down. The festival represented only one leg of their six -city  tour in the UK.  The muti-media event  also included Saharawi poets, painters, photographers and puppeteers, interacting with audiences and collaborating creatively with London-based artists. The release of  TIRIS’s debut album Sandtracks at the festival was met with a rave five-star review in leading world music magazine Songlines.

“I felt my eyes were opened not only to a great injustice, but also to the art and culture of a people who have been sidelined for far too long.” Henry Bonsu, Director of Colourful Radio

Among the special guests of the opening night were British iconic filmmaker, Ken Loach, Aminatou Haidar, Saharawi Nobel peace -prize nominee and Hasiba Boulmerka, Algerian Olympic gold medallist. The festival was also join ed by the fabulous voices of Somalian singer Maryam Mursal, herself a political refugee and Pedro Lima and Teresa Pineschi from Brazil.

Ken Loach and Sandblast Festival Director Danielle Smith

Over the weekend, intimate jams included an improvised string quintet made up of oud, cuatro and tidinit with the more familiar violin and  flamenco guitar. Alongside that, pulsating dance madness between amateurs and professionals of diverse traditions. Feature films, shorts, works in progress offered diverse insights into the Saharawi situation as well as talks on human rights, landmines and women. There were also creative workshops for adults and kids. Debut performances of The Wall, a British-Saharawi theatre collaboration, were also among the highlights. Through the remarkable life of El-Keihal, a Saharawi poet, The Wall tells the story of a divided and displaced nation in struggle.

“I am sure the Sandblast Festival will have given many people an appetite for the Western Sahara.” Toby Shelley, Financial Times journalist and author of Endgame in Western Sahara: Africa’s last colony.

Over the three days, the Festival attracted over 2,500 people. Through related events in London and the UK Tiris tour, Sandblast reached an additional 2,000 people. Hundreds of people learnt of the Saharawis for the first time and many considered the Sandblast festival the best awareness-raising party they have ever attended. Through the extensive media coverage of TIRIS and their UK tour, many thousands more were reached.

“ To take part in Sandblast is to share in the making of history.” Jean Lamore, filmmaker and author.

The Sandblast festival would never have been possible without the dedication of a fantastic volunteers team and the efforts, time, funds, ideas, food, love and friendship of many others along the way. To all of those who contributed, Sandblast is eternally grateful for making the experience truly wonderful and unforgettable.

Sandblast continues in its mission to tell the Saharawi story and promote the expression of Saharawi arts through the Saharawi Artist Fund. Set up to finance projects in the refugee camps, it  gives opportunities for aspiring and established Saharawi artists to develop, showcase and earn a living from their talents.

Please support us in our ongoing endeavour by getting involved, donating or joining our community. You can also support us by buying  Sandblast art merchandise below which helps promote Saharawi artists and artisans. Every step will help our mission.

Sandtracks by Tiris – Voices of Western Sahara (2007)

A 10- track CD  produced by Sandblast

CD photography artwork by Simon Thorpe and Rif Spahni

In their debut album “Sandtracks,”  Tiris, sing of love, loss and the collective aspirations fof a people for their independence and freedom. Through their  music, this  eight- member strong Saharawi band combines old and new talent, tradition and innovation in a powerful and raw way. On the album, Tiris play in collaboration with Mohamed Hafsi, a world class bassist who has toured with Mory Konte , singer composer and pianist Kad Achouri, members of the Soothsayers and others.

Named after a deeply culturally symbolic region of Western Sahara, Tiris, debuted at the Festival of the Desert in Mali  in 2006. They are based in refugee camps, in SW Algeria, where they have been forced to live for over 3 decades since Morocco illegally annexed their homeland in 1975.

The group was originally formed out of a series of talent competitions held in the refugee camps, in 2005, in preparation for the 2007 Sandblast Festival in London and UK tour. Their debut CD ‘Sandtracks” received a 5 star review in leading world music magazine, Songlines. Click here to view the review.

To read more about Tiris, go to Voices & Visions » Music.

To purchase Sandtracks, visit the shop.

31 treinta y uno (2007)

An anthology of Saharawi poetry in Spanish and English

By Pablo San Martin and Ben Bollig
Published by Sandblast
£ 8

Treinta y uno is a bilingual anthology of Saharawi resistance poetry in Spanish and English. The editors Pablo San Martin and Ben Bollig compiled and introduced this special booklet of thirty one Saharawi poems in 2007 to mark the thirty one years of the territorial occupation of Western Sahara: “There is one poem for each year of exile, of lack and broken promises of the international community. One poem for each of the years in which we have ignored the Saharawi determination to build a modern, democratic and secular nation in their homeland” (San Martin & Bollig 2007, Introduction).

The 19-page introduction written by both editors provides an impressive overview of the Saharawi identity that was so deeply marked by the invasion and occupation of their home country and the three decades of exile the Saharawi have been forced to live in. San Martin and Bollig draw upon wider historical contexts of the importance of poetic and literary expression in moments of extreme and contrasting emotions; those of fear, anger, loss and desire.

The group of poets represented in 31 call themselves the Generation of Saharawi Friendship. They admit to being influenced and inspired by the vision and political engagement of poets like Lorcas and Neruda. Because of formative educational experiences either  in Cuba or Spain their main language for poetic expression is in Spanish. Numerous members of the Generation of Saharawi Friendhsip currently reside in Spain and dedicate much energy to getting their works published and drawing attention to their struggle through poetry readings and presentations.

31 was produced for the 2007 Sandblast festival celebrating Saharawi arts and culture in London. Several of the poets involved were invited to present their poetry which took place in collaboration with other poets from the Arabic and Spanish speaking world, notably the Chilean human rights champion Carlos Reyes -Manzo.

Visit the shop to purchase a copy of 31.

In the Pipeline

Desert Passions (provisional title)

We plan to produce a bi-lingual publication (Spanish and English) featuring portraits of 20 Saharawi women artists-their lives, artforms and culture. Focusing for the first time on the creative side of Saharawi women, the book will draw attention to the importance of their role in the society and the changes they have faced during their exile and struggle of over 30 years.

We aim to widely distribute Desert Passions to universities, libraries and resonant organizations and introduce it as a resource in the curriculum where possible.

Production target date: Autumn 2010
Budget: £16,000 (research visit to the camps, design and print for 5000 copies of 100 pages)

Sandtracks (II)

Following the success of the first Tiris CD, Sandtracks, a second music album aims to build on the music collaborations and attract internationally well known artists to contribute. We have already received the support of Grammy award-winner Angelique Kidjo who has recorded her vocals on one of the new Tiris songs.

Production target date: n/a
Budget: budget still to be determined