Imarhan Achinkad (2022)
Tamanrasset is an oasis city in southern Algeria, nestled deep in the Sahara. It is home to some of the most renowned Assouf bands. Assouf? For those unfamiliar: it’s the music that the industry likes to repackage under the Eurocentric label “Desert Blues”, a term shaped more by Western marketing than by the culture itself.
The region and its people not only carry the legacy of intellectual colonization but of lived colonization as well: Algeria endured decades of French rule. As so often in colonial history, the West has taken what it valued while leaving behind profound social and economic scars, and in Tamanrasset’s case even long-lasting health consequences.
In 1962, France carried out a nuclear test in the desert near Tamanrasset. Although the detonation took place deep underground in a tunnel, the shaft was improperly sealed, allowing radioactive dust to escape and spread out hundreds of kilometers.
Reliable medical data on the impact on local populations is still lacking: France limited its studies to its own military personnel, kept the incident secret and, upon withdrawal from Algeria, buried the contaminated site in concrete.
Yet to this day, observers report that radioactive debris remains exposed near the mountain, with elevated radiation levels in some areas. Local testimonies and investigative accounts point to ongoing health problems—higher incidences of cancer, infertility, cataracts and birth defects—alongside warnings of persistent environmental contamination.
And yet, despite this history of harm, Tamanrasset endures as a cultural beacon. Its Assouf bands—one of them Imarhan, the authors of today’s song—carry the voices of the desert far beyond the Sahara, along with the enduring pulse of a city that has given the world far more than it has received.
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