Mariem Hassan, with her very special ornamented and almost bluesy singing voice, is often called the most prominent musician of Western Sahara. She is a figurehead of women’s liberation in Northen Africa, but also a symbol of the Sahrawi people’s fight for liberation from first the Spanish colonial power and later the Moroccan occupation. Lacking a better description, her music is sometimes described as a fierier version of desert blues band Tinariwen. Read more here.

Tickets to Clandestino Festival 2013 here.