Sahra Halgan

Sahra Halgan is an iconic artist from Somaliland, formerly a British protectorate in the Horn of Africa, and an independent country since 1991, although unrecognised by the international community. In the1980s, during the war in reaction to the terrible repression of Siad Barré, the dictator of neighbouring Somalia, she earns her nickname “Halgan”, the fighter, and her songs win the hearts of an entire people forever. An improvised nurse at the front, defying tribal and family conventions, she sings to heal the wounded and encourage the fighters. But the fratricidal fighting that marks the end of the war forces her into exile, and it is France that grants her political asylum. What follows is a life familiar to millions of uprooted people in Europe:discreet integration from below, raising a family, hard work… 20 hard years that take her away from music.

At the beginning of the 2010s in Lyon, with Aymeric Krol on percussion (BKO from MALI) and Maël Salètes on electric guitar (Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, L’étrangleuse), she starts the Sahra Halgan Trio which generates a small but steady following among European audiences and the diaspora, who have never forgotten her. The trio invents a minimalist form with a raw sound that they develop over two albums, carried by Sahra’s unique voice and her tireless political commitment to the recognition of her country. From tiny venues to prestigious festivals on three continents, the originality of the group’s music is confirmed at the Transmusicales de Rennes in2019.