Mamane Barka

Malam Mamane Barka (1958/1959 – 21 November 2018) was a Nigerien musician, and one of the world's most prominent players of the biram African harp.^[1] He died on 21 November 2018, aged 59.^[2]

Mamane Barka
Malam Mamane Barka playing an ngurmi African lute.
Background information
Birth name	Malam Mamane Barka
Born	1958/1959 Tesker, Niger
Died	21 November 2018 (aged 59) Niamey, Niger
Occupation	Musician
Instrument(s)	Biram, Ngurumi
Labels	World Music Network

Biography

Malam Mamane Barka was born in 1958 or 1959 in Tesker, a town in the east of the then autonomous republic of Niger. He came from the nomadic people of Toubou. As a player of the Ngurumi, a two-string plucked instrument, he gained popularity in his homeland and neighboring Nigeria. In 2002 he decided to devote himself to the study of Biram. It is a five-stringed instrument used by the Boudouma people, a fishing community on Lake Chad, for traditional songs.^[1][3]