Mr. Mohamed Aly ANSAR (known as Manny Ansar) was born into a family of Tuareg nomads on a sand dune a hundred Kilometers north west of the city of Timbuktu in Mali. With a Masters Degree in International Public Law, he has worked extensively in humanitarian projects before turning to what has always attracted him, music.
Manny was the manager of the premier Tuareg music group, Tinariwen, and in 2001 he co-founded and has remained Executive Director of the world reknown Festival in the Desert in Essakane / Timbuktu.
His fight for the promotion of Malian music has earned him this year’s Freemuse Award for the role played by the Festival in the Desert in the fight for freedom of expression by artists in the crisis in Mali.