Renowned Mali musician Ballaké Sissoko claimed today that US Customs in New York "completely destroyed" his custom-made kora, the West African instrument with which he performs. "The kora is a fragile, hand-crafted instrument, and Ballaké’s kora is tailor-made to his own specifications," a statement released on his Facebook page reads. "It is an intrinsic part of his very special sound. Would US customs have dared to dismantle a Stradivarius? In its own way that is what has just happened to Ballaké."
According to the statement, Sissoko was flying to Paris from New York (he doesn't specify which airport he flew out of, but it's being reported that it was JFK) after completing a North American tour with his group 3MA on Tuesday. He had checked his kora inside a special hard case, and when he arrived, he was horrified at what he found inside the case. "He was shocked and dismayed to find his kora in many pieces, with only a note from US customs — in Spanish, with the unfortunate motto: 'Intelligent security saves time.'"
The statement describes the damage to the instrument in detail: "The neck of the kora has been removed. The strings, bridge and entire, delicate and complex sound system of amplification have been taken apart. The kora is in pieces. Even if all the components that have been dissembled were intact, it takes weeks before a kora of this calibre can return to its previous state of resonance." What's more, it is not the kind of instrument you can roll into a Guitar Center and buy off the shelf: "These kinds of custom-made koras are simply impossible to replace. They are certainly not available in shops."
The kora is a 21-string lute-bridge-harp. You can see a video of Sissoko performing with this specific kora last year below:
The statement concludes calling this an "unprovoked and sad act of aggression" and implying racial bias in the treatment:
In Mali, the jihadists threaten to destroy musical instruments, cut the tongues out of singers, and to silence Mali’s great musical heritage. And yet, ironically, it is the USA Customs that have in their own way managed to do this. Would they have dared do such a thing to a white musician playing a classical instrument? What does this tell us about the attitude of the administration towards African musicians? This is an unprovoked and sad act of aggression, a reflection of the kind of cultural ignorance and racism that is taking over in so many parts of the world and that endangers the best of musicians from Africa and elsewhere.
Although the statement specifically blames US Customs and Border Protection, the photo of the broken instrument included a slip of paper from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). A spokesperson for TSA said they are "looking into" what happened.
[Update] TSA officials now say that they did not in fact open the case, and the “bag tag” was put on it to indicate that it was screened and cleared. Furthermore, they pointed to the poor condition of the tag, and the fact it has tape on it (which they do not affix to inspection notices), as evidence that someone else placed it inside the bag.
"It is most unfortunate that Mr. Sissoko’s instrument was damaged in transport, however, after a thorough review of the claim, it was determined that TSA did not open the instrument case because it did not trigger an alarm when it was screened for possible explosives," they said in a statement.
