‘Thieves, return the people’s money!’ The engagement of West Saharan artists against the plundering of regional natural resources

This article addresses the exploitation of natural resources in the Atlantic region of the Sahara from the innovative angle of the satirical creations of engaged artists. In both Mauritania and Western Sahara, the plundering and squandering of national natural resources by the political elites have been the object of extremely virulent positions taken by singers and poets. However, in these two territories, both currently experiencing a boom in extractive economies (fisheries and mining), the stories and political situations are very different. Through two examples of satirical creations available on the internet, the article first analyses the semantics of these artistic messages, then explores the aesthetic force of these productions and their political performativity and, finally, the role of engaged artists in the political and economic life of the West Saharan region today.