Fatoumata Diawara announces new album, Maliba

Fatoumata Diawara has announced details of a new album, Maliba. The record is a collaboration with the Google Arts & Culture platform and will be available digitally only on March 11.

The seven new songs on Maliba form the soundtrack to a special online presentation of the Timbuktu Manuscripts. This collection was imperilled when members of the militant Islamist group Ansar Dine seized Timbuktu in 2012 and began destroying many historic artefacts. Maliba tells the story of their preservation.