Biennial 2003 - A professional in the jury

It is the first time that a Minister of Culture in Mali invites our compatriot Boncana at a regional week or biennial. He sat within the jury, beside other personalities like Benson Diakité of RFI to appreciate the various troops.
At the end of the performance of the band of Mopti, in the stadium Modibo Keita, we met it.

Interview

Le Reflet : Boncana Maïga, you've been invited for the first time by the ministry of Culture to take part in a biennial. How did you receive this invitation?
Boncana Maïga : First of all, I'm pround to come to attend this demonstration as a Malian. That pleases to me a lot because I am a discoverer of talents. I make productions and arrangements. The biennial obviously gives me a broad range of the Malian culture in general. I am really very happy. It is the occasion to say thank you to the Malian government through the ministry of Culture.

Can one say that justice is at last done to you?
Yes! It is a justice because some biennials were held whereas I was in the country and I was not invited. And from 1973 to 1980, I've never been invited to biennial. This time, justice was done to me. I am here today! Now, I have my international notoriety outside of Mali. And as a Malian musician , it allows me to discover or see, with the eye of a professional, what occurs in the country.

A message for the Malian people ?
The Malian public must encourage this new generation of creators and artists.
This new generation of creators deserves to be encouraged and motivated. And I think that that comes gradually because, the other day, I saw a huge public at the stage. It is also the proof that the people wished the resumption of the biennial.