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Timbuktu on the University’s Cultural Council: ”A glimpse under the bonnet”

Photo of man sitting in a chair, resting his head in his hand.
Jason Diakité. Photo: Jenny Leyman

The next-door neighbour whose home you’ve never been inside. That was how Jason Diakité, also known as hip hop artist Timbuktu, felt about the University while growing up in Lund. Today, he feels differently – having been awarded an honorary doctorate and now taking his seat as one of LU’s external Cultural Council members.

Inside the historic Old Bishop’s House, final preparations are underway for the day’s meeting of the Cultural Council. The Council gathers once a semester and this afternoon’s meeting is expected to last four hours. It will then be followed by dinner in the adjoining hall. Jason Diakité, or Timbuktu as most people know him, arrives half an hour early and takes a seat in the library on the second floor. He has flown all the way to Sweden from Hong Kong, where he lives with his family, to attend. 

“So far, I’ve managed to plan trips so that I can attend the meetings. Also, my mum lives in Lund and my dad and sister in Malmö, so I have big and important reasons to come,” he says.

Photo of a man in a room decorated as a library, looking out the window.
Although he has never considered himself at home in the University, Jason Diakité has studied at LU. “I did it very half-heartedly. Of the 60 possible credits you could take, I have 17.” Photo: Jenny Leyman

Understand – and contribute

The external Cultural Council was started in 2015. Its members are active in a wide range of fields and act, among other things, as strategic advisors for LU’s collaborations in the field of culture, as well as on how to make the University’s cultural significance more visible. The meeting about to start is Jason Diakité’s second; he joined as a new member this year. When the invitation came, he accepted without hesitation.

“I’m curious about new spaces. I don’t know much about the university I grew up alongside. I want to know about the University’s aims and what the University can do. I want to try to understand and I want to contribute, of course.”

He remembers the first meeting, which was held in the spring semester, as fun and rewarding.

“It was really interesting and I learned a lot. It was great to meet the other members, from museum directors and businesspeople to University old-timers, and to understand a bit more about the University’s inner workings. It’s like getting a glimpse under the bonnet, despite not being a mechanic. There are a lot of cogs, as I suspected, but I don’t quite understand what they do yet,” he says. 

Artist, author and social activist

Since his breakthrough in the early 2000s, Jason Diakité has become one of the biggest names in Swedish hip hop, with mega-hits such as Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö (Everyone wants to enter Heaven but no one wants to die), years of frequent touring and several major music awards under his belt. He has also been recognised for his social activism. 

Photo of a man sitting in a chair, looking at something behind the camera.
In addition to attending the Cultural Council, Jason Diakité has also had time to visit his family, participate in a seminar at the Department of Political Science, give a speech on the commemoration of the abolition of slavery, and play two concerts in Norway. Photo: Jenny Leyman

He attracted a lot of attention in 2013 when he received the 5i12 movement’s award for his efforts to counter xenophobia and racism and gave an emotional speech in the Swedish Parliament while holding up his passport. His book A Drop of Midnight, the story of a family’s roots stretching from slavery in the US to Sweden, was published in 2016. The book was later adapted into a play of the same name.

A feeling of distance

Last year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of Humanities for his contribution to Swedish culture and public debate. Yet as a child, Jason Diakité had only vague ideas about what the University was and meant. He remembers Big Toddy Day, the medical students’ big celebration hosted by Medicinska Föreningen, when he and his friends fired dried peas at each other and threw eggs at the students. And yet there was always a feeling of distance.   

“It’s almost like the neighbour you’ve lived next door to your whole life, but you’ve never really been inside their home,” he says and continues:

“That’s why it’s nice to get a glimpse inside the University later in life. Before the last meeting, I had never been inside Old Bishop’s House, despite having passed it thousands of times. That alone is pretty cool, to get to walk inside and see spaces that you’ve always wondered about.”

Photo of a group of people posing for a group picture taken inside.
In addition to the external Cultural Council members, the following representatives from LU joined the meeting: Ann Kristin Wallengren, Johanna Kaspersson, Louice Cardell Hepp, Isabelle Nilsson, Jimmie Kristensson, Staffan Storm, och Johannes Persson (not in the picture). Photo: Jenny Leyman

New perspectives

Outside Old Bishop’s House, the rain is pouring down intermittently on this October afternoon. Inside, hot tea and coffee await the members about to start their meeting. In addition to an update on what has happened since the last meeting, today’s agenda includes a discussion about how the University can take a more integrated approach to cultural activities. There will also be a presentation on Art Callab – Laboratory for Art by Fredrik Haller, senior lecturer at the Malmö Theatre Academy. 

Jason Diakité believes and hopes that he can contribute new perspectives.

“I’m a lay person, a non-academic, non-tenured and non-normative in any sense. I come from a self-made grassroots culture and have a completely different perspective on things to wider society in general.” 

The external Cultural Council members 2024-2026 are:

Patrick Amsellem, Director of Nationalmuseum
Nina Andersson, CEO of Folkets Hus och Parker
Jason Diakité, musician, author, honorary doctor
Karin Karlsson, Head of Artistic Programming and Events at Malmö Live
Helene Larsson Pousette, outgoing Cultural Attaché at the Swedish Embassy in Washington
Jenny Lindén Urnes, Chairman of the Board Lindéngruppen
Anna Lyrevik, Head of Region Skåne’s cultural administration
Marcus McKinley, Global Co-Creation Manager at IKEA
David Polfeldt, former CEO of Massive Entertainment, consultant, author
Biljana Topalova-Casadiego, Director of Malmö Museums

The Cultural Council’s remit:

  • Act as a discussion partner and a forum for ideas related to the University’s implementation of the strategy for cultural collaboration.
  • Contribute to increasing the visibility of the University’s role in, and for, culture.
  • Advise the Vice-Chancellor on the University's cultural collaboration strategy.

 

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About LUM

The first edition of Lund University Magazine – LUM – was published 1968. Today, the magazine reaches all employees and also people outside the university. The magazine is published six times per year. Editor Jan Olsson.

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