I’m back in Bamako, Mali. It has been two years since my last visit, but when I got off the plane it all fell right back into place: the heavy heat, the sour and spicy smell in the night air, the sound of Bambara being spoken. It was familiar, and even somewhat comfortable.
But, Bamako is changing. Last time I was here I started photographing around the city, trying to document it at that moment in time, before it changed beyond recognition. I knew it was changing fast, and I was right. There is a different feeling in Bamako this time around, more life, more traffic, and maybe more economic energy. The government has continued with its city beautification projects. Neighborhood soccer fields, where the play used to spill over into the street, have been enclosed by fences. Roadside areas that used to be open fields of dust have been made into public parks where people hang out in the cooler evening air. Parts of the riverfront that were overgrown with vegetation or squatters’ huts have been made into public walkways and parks; others are becoming fancy hotels or private villas. The other day I saw someone inner tubing behind a motorboat on the Niger River! Is the change superficial, or does it reflect an underlying economic renaissance slowly taking place?
I went to a big stadium concert the evening of Ramadan. All the kids were dressed in their new clothes: both tight jeans and tank tops and more traditional boubous and African prints. The event was a flash point where materialism and undirected youth energy came together in a combustible combination. Thousands of kids paid the equivalent of USD 3.00 to see their favorite DJs from the Ivory Coast -- quite a bit of money where 60% of the population is below the poverty line -- perform in the center of a soccer field while they remained caged in the bleachers...wisely as it turned out. There was the obligatory food and plastic water bottle fight in the bleachers –- and onto the field –- and fireworks exploded in the middle of the crowd. At the same time, when the MC asked everyone to raise up their illuminated cell phones, the entire stadium was filled with thousands of points of light. And, all through the (lip-synched) performances the MC cried out the mottos of the sponsors -- cell phone companies, drink companies, websites, travel companies – to this crowd of young Malians, many of who attend the nearby University and face rather limited job options upon graduation…
Well, I will try to post an update once a month, but as usual, much will depend on whether I can hook my computer up directly to the net or not…it might be easier than I feared – after all, in two week I’ll get an ATM card that can be used in Timbuktu -- as Dylan sang, 'and you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone for the times they are a-changing'...more on that later.
