Fatoumata Diawara (Bambara: ߝߊ߫ߕߎߡߕߊ ߖߊ߯ߥߙߊ߫, romanized: Fatumta Jawara, born 1982) is a Malian singer-songwriter currently[when?] living in France. Diawara began her career as an actress in theatre and in film, including Genesis (1999), Sia, The Dream of the Python (2001) and Timbuktu (2014). She later launched a career in music, collaborating with numerous artists and releasing three studio albums beginning with 2011 debut Fatou. Diawara’s music combines traditional Wassoulou with international styles. Diawara was born in 1982 in the Ivory Coast to Malian parents. As an adolescent, she was sent back to their native Bamako in Mali to be raised by an aunt. When she was eighteen, Diawara moved to France to pursue acting. She briefly returned to Mali for a film role, but fled back to Paris to avoid being coerced into marriage by her family. After moving to France, Diawara appeared in Cheick Oumar Sissoko’s 1999 feature film Genesis, Dani Kouyaté’s popular 2001 film Sia, le rêve du python, and in the internationally renowned street theatre troupe Royal de Luxe. She also played a leading role in the musical Kirikou et Karaba. Simultaneously with pursuing her musical career, Diawara has continued her cinematic activities, with numerous roles, appearances, and musical input in multiple feature films, including in Timbuktu, which won seven César Award nods and an Academy Award nomination in 2014. Diawara took up the guitar and began composing her own material, writing songs that blend Wassoulou traditions of southern Mali with international influences.[4] She has said that she is “the first female solo electric guitar player in Mali”. Diawara has performed or recorded with Malian and international stars such as Cheick Tidiane Seck, Oumou Sangaré,[6] AfroCubism,[7] Dee Dee Bridgewater (on Red Earth: A Malian Journey),[8] and the Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou.[9] The EP Kanou was released May 9, 2011. She wrote every song[10] on her debut album Fatou from World Circuit Records that released in September 2011.[11] (Nonesuch Records released the Kanou EP digitally in North America on September 27, 2011, and the album Fatou on August 28, 2012).
