During the 2000s, interest in music from the countries around the Sahara desert has completely exploded. Bands from Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria and Morocco have made a big impact internationally.

But for some, the path to success is more varied than others.

Standard Switches

The musicians and sisters Asmaa and Aicha Hamzaoui, from Casablanca in Morocco, are touring in Sweden with the band Bnat Timbouktou (Timbouktou's daughters). A band consisting solely of women and playing the traditional Moroccan folk music genre gnawa. The music genre is dominated by male performers, and as a result Asmaa Hamzaoui broke into a deeply rooted taboo when she first stood on stage and played on her Gimbri.

- Gimbrin is a living instrument. It is made of wood, leather and animal casings, says Asmaa Hamzaoui.

But women shouldn't play gimbri?

- Others haven't got to play gimbri but I get, she says, laughing.

- She was the first woman to say, "why shouldn't women play gnawa? I want to play gnawa music, ”says Aicha Hamzaoui.

What reactions have you received?

- Some have been critical ... I always say to Asmaa, because I am her sister, that people talk a lot all the time, says Aicha Hamzaoui.