Thursday, August 3, 8:00 p.m. Concert of Tuareg guitarist and singer Ahmed Ag Kaedy from Mali at the Kirtimim Cultural Center.

Ahmed Ag Kaedy is a guitarist and singer, a powerful solo artist and the leader of the band Amanar de Kidal. The soul-tickling music of Ahmed Ag Kaedy is often compared to the work of Mdou Moctar and Tinariwen, only it is as if enhanced, more modern, but still reminiscent of the roots of traditional Tuareg music.

Ag Kaedy grew up surrounded by the rich musical tradition of his people, but only started playing after going to military training in Libya. A pacifist, he traded his rifle for a guitar and returned to his native Kidal desert region in northern Mali. There he formed the group "Amanar", which in 2010 was awarded the prize for the best new group at the festival with the famous name "Festival au Desert".

in 2012 The north of Mali was occupied by an alliance of Islamist extremists and Tuareg rebels. They ransacked Ahmed Ag Kaedy's house, burned his instruments and threatened to cut off his fingers if he dared to play again. As a result, Ag Kaedy was exiled to the country's capital, Bamako, in the country's verdant south. These experiences turned into his smashing acoustic solo debut Akaline Kidal.

The album was recorded during the US tour to 8-track tape in Portland with the help of Christopher Kirkley, who also released Ahmed Ag Kaedy's album on his famous Sahel Sounds label.

Ahmed Ag Kaedy has performed extensively throughout Africa, Europe and America, but this is his first tour in Scandinavia and Lithuania.