Mariem Hassan (May/1958 – 22/8/2015)

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We’ve been saddened to discover the passing of Mariem Hassan, one of the most remarkable and inspirational musicians we’ve encountered here at Cyclic Defrost. She died last month of bone cancer, aged 57, in a refugee camp in South West Algeria.

We were blessed to see her four times in four days, as part of the 2010 Womadelaide Festival, where she performed twice, taught us to dance the ostrich dance and cooked us camel stew. She opened herself and her culture up for us, and allowed us to bask in her strength and beauty. A strong advocate for her displaced people of the Western Sahara, she was one of the leading exponents of Saharawi music and for those four days we were nothing short of transfixed and bewitched by her warm open personality and remarkably soulful music.

This from the World Music Central Website:
“In late July Aware that she only had few weeks left to live, Mariem Hassan read a farewell to her family, friends and fans. Manuel Dominguez, Mariem’s producer and friend explains what happened in the last few months: “Some months ago, Mariem decided to stop chemotherapy; her liver was severely damaged, and she placed herself in the hands of Mulana “(God). In late February 2015, taking advantage of the end of the chemotherapy, she returned to the refugee camps to participate in a Congress of Culture. She presented her “Farewell” and was only able to read, because she did not feel well enough to sing. However, the next day, just before heading back to Spain, she sang it a capella for me in her tent and I recorded it. I uploaded that “Farewell” to YouTube with a montage of photos she had done in May 2014, also in her tent.”

And this is how we remember her:

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Bob is the features editor of Cyclic Defrost. He is also evil. You should not trust the opinions of evil people.

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