Toumani Diabaté as a young man.
Photograph courtesy Lucy Durán
Toumani Diabaté left a legacy as enormous as the west African Mande music tradition he was born into.
Toumani Diabaté collaborated with artists from around the world using his kora to improvise.
Samir Hussein/Getty Images
He took west Africa’s Mande music to a new level of global recognition, often collaborating with artists who made music in very different styles.
Traditional music has a strong presence in Senegal’s mainstream music scene.
Ragnar Hatlo/Getty Images
Combining elements of traditional and modern music has created rhythms that are unique to Senegalese music.
Kora star Ballaké Sissoko at the sacred place of Sanementereng in The Gambia.
Screengrab/Ballaké Sissoko: Kora Tales/Vimeo
The extraordinary documentary Ballaké Sissoko: Kora Tales takes a journey from Mali to The Gambia.
The late musician Madosini playing the umrhube mouthbow.
Oupa Bopape/Gallo Images via Getty Images
Composers are keeping bow music alive through electronic music and other experiments.
Siddi children performing Dance Dhamaal in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India.
Courtesy Sayan Dey
Dhamaal music and dance reveals a rich and complex mixing of cultures that is shaped by history.
Stella Chiweshe, performing in Amsterdam in 1988, kept ancient traditions alive.
Frans Schellekens/Redferns via Getty Images
She paved the way for women to play the mbira – and then took the ancient tradition global.
Madosini performing in Johannesburg in 2021.
Oupa Bopape/Gallo Images via Getty Images
The queen of Xhosa music has passed away. She reinvigorated ancient Xhosa cultural traditions through performance and teaching.
(ANTARA FOTO/Syaiful Arif)
In a country where Christians are a minority, understanding how religious groups use traditional arts and music to convey their faith and identity is important to preserve their cultural legacy.
Dancers Clara Desportes and Simon Lavenaire in Fort de France during Emancipation Day celebrations in 2016.
Courtesy of Gilles Ticaze Cazenave
After years of marginalization, the bèlè dance has been embraced by a growing community who see it as a form of social and spiritual healing.
A masked herdsman in Lesotho.
Edwin Remsberg/The Image Bank via Getty Images
Lesotho’s famo music is known for the use of accordions - and gang violence. In Wayfarers’ Hymns, Zakes Mda explores this tradition.
Clay figurines of musicians, by Samuele Makoanyane.
Kirby Collection, University of Cape Town
Clay figurines of musicians, made in the 1930s, are being exhibited along with a new film of actual musicians playing the traditional instruments.
Pedro Ruiz/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images
His single Yeke Yeke was the first African song to pass a million in sales, but it’s meaning was best understood in Guinea, home of the griot and kora star.
The Nasir ol Molk Mosque in Shiraz, Iran: Islamic architecture is one of the gems of Persian culture, as is its traditional music.
Wikimedia Commons
There is so much more to Iran than politics. Its traditional music carries messages of beauty, joy, sorrow and love to the world.