Alliance Française De Banjul Opens Cultural Season With Spotlight On Kankurang

The Alliance Française de Banjul has opened its new cultural season with a major exhibition and forum dedicated to Gambian masquerades, placing preservation of the kankurang and other endangered traditions at the centre.

The opening brought together cultural actors, students, photographers and diplomats, including the Chargé d’Affaires of the French Embassy in The Gambia. The programme featured a photo exhibition, a Kankurang performance, a roundtable discussion and a documentary screening on Gambian masquerades.

The Alliance Française de Banjul Director Marion Ray Essien said masquerades represent community, knowledge transmission and culture, and remain relevant in contemporary society.

She said Alliance Française aims to serve as a platform for dialogue between cultures and for young Gambians to showcase heritage and creativity.

The institution has lined up film screenings, jam sessions and training programmes for creatives in music and audiovisual production for the season.

The masquerade project was curated by Modou Lamin Bah of Ambo Studio, who led a team of young photographers and filmmakers, including Muhammad Badjie, photographer and youth representative.

Bah said the project involved months of preparation, planning and travel across the country to document different masquerades. While last year’s edition focused on hunting festivities, this year’s edition focused on masquerades, offering new insights into traditions rarely seen.

The project uncovered masquerades unfamiliar to many Gambians, including the Koseh masquerade from Janjangbureh, performed only at night.

Badjie said photography is a tool for preserving culture beyond mere images. The documented masquerades are stories and celebrations of communities.

The forum also featured a presentation on the historical and spiritual significance of masks, tracing their use back thousands of years.

Speakers noted masquerades have served as tools for social satire, spiritual mediation and as a physical manifestation of the connection between humans and nature.

Representatives from the Janjanbureh Cultural Festival highlighted efforts to safeguard intangible heritage through festivals, including documentation of proverbs, songs and history from Kankurang custodians.

The event underscored the need for stronger collaboration between cultural institutions, festival organisers and young creatives to ensure documentation, transmission and sustainability of Gambian masquerade traditions for future generations.