Dimi Mint Abba, the Desert Diva who Revealed Mauritania to the World

In 1990, in a London studio, a woman sitting on a rug plays a fourteen-stringed harp and lets rise a deep voice that crosses continents¹. No one in the West had ever heard this music. Dimi Mint Abba had just revealed Mauritania to the world.

Did you know? Ali Farka Touré, the legendary Malian guitarist, nicknamed her « the greatest singer in Africa »².

In Brief

Key Dates

A Griot by Birth, a Child of the Desert

Dimi Mint Abba was born on December 25, 1958, in Tidjikdja, at the heart of Mauritania³. She is the daughter of Sidati Ould Abba, a singer and composer who originated the Mauritanian national anthem, and Feu Mounina Mint Eida, a percussionist and master of the ardin⁴. Her birth name, Loula Bint Sidati Ould Abba, is often shortened to Dimi⁵.

She grew up in the caste of iggawin, the hereditary griots of Mauritania⁶. Their role goes beyond music: they are oral historians, poets, social commentators, and diviners serving chiefs, merchants, and ceremonies⁷. Education is done through oral tradition, from parent to child⁸. Dimi began singing at a very young age, accompanying her parents; then around ten years old, her mother taught her the ardin — a fourteen-stringed harp mounted on a gourd covered with goat skin — an instrument traditionally associated with women⁹. She also learned the t’bol (large drum) and the tidinit, a four-stringed lute normally associated with men¹⁰.

« I have been singing since I can remember », she confessed in 1989¹¹. « Since childhood, I accompanied my family. »

Revelation and International Consecration

In 1976, Dimi won a national vocal contest that qualified her for the prestigious Festival d’Oum Kulthum in Tunis¹². The following year, she represented Mauritania there with “Sawt Elfan” (The Feather of Art), whose chorus affirms that « the feather of Art is a balm, a weapon, and a guide that illuminates the minds of men »¹³. She won the gold medal¹⁴.

This success opened the door to a series of international performances: Iraq (1977), Algeria (1978), Morocco (1986)¹⁵. But Mauritania remained a largely unknown musical country¹⁶.

The breakthrough came from West Africa. Ali Farka Touré, the legendary Malian guitarist, was impressed by Dimi and recommended her name to World Circuit, the British label¹⁷. Nick Gold, head of the label, invited her to England in 1989¹⁸. She recorded Moorish Music from Mauritania (1990) with her husband Khalifa Ould Eide — guitarist and tidinitist — accompanied by his two daughters on percussion and backing vocals¹⁹. The album was the first studio recording of Mauritanian music²⁰. Followed in 1992 by Musique et chants de Mauritanie on Auvidis Ethnic²¹.

Dimi continued touring: United States (1993), West Africa, Australia (2009)²². In 2006, she performed at WOMAD in England and, a historic moment, at the BBC Proms of the Royal Albert Hall — the first time a Mauritanian artist performed on that stage²³. « Wrapped in a red shawl », wrote the Evening Standard, « she played her harp accompanying her dramatic voice »²⁴.

Legacy

Dimi Mint Abba died on June 4, 2011, in Rabat, Morocco, from a cerebral hemorrhage²⁵. An accident that occurred during a performance in Aïoun ten days earlier hastened her end²⁶. The Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz described her death as « a national loss »²⁷.

Her daughter Noura Mint Seymali, who toured with her in her final years, perpetuates the legacy of the « Desert Diva »²⁸. Khalifa Ould Eide, her husband and lifelong collaborator, had died in 2001²⁹.

But it was Dimi Mint Abba who opened the door. A desert voice, coming from a caste long despised, crossed the oceans and changed the world’s view of Mauritania³⁰.

Major Works

Sources and references