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25 · TREASURE · tradition linked through narrative to the 13th century; the present instrument and its custodianship have their own chronology

Sosso-Bala

Cultural space of Sosso-Bala

The balafon and its custodians are part of a living tradition of music, memory and teaching.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

EDITORIAL VISUALISATION DECLARED · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS

Editorial visualisation · Contextual correspondence

Declared editorial visualisation, based on the cartography and sources of the fact sheet; it is not an exact historical frontier.

Visual proposal for the Cultural space of Sosso-Bala, Nyagassola, Guinea
EDITORIAL VISUALISATION DECLARED · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS

Editorial visualisation · Contextual correspondence

Declared editorial visualisation, based on the cartography and sources of the fact sheet; it is not an exact historical frontier.

History and context

The balafon and the place where it is kept are living symbols of Manding memory and cohesion.

Continuity also resides in protocols, transmission and relationships, not only in the instrument’s physical age. Limitation: UNESCO documents the present-day heritage; it does not certify that the visible wood is an intact object from the 13th century.

Evidence and interpretation

ORAL+VIVA. The balafon and the place where it is kept are living symbols of Manding memory and cohesion. What this does not establish: UNESCO documents the present-day heritage; it does not certify that the visible wood is an intact object from the 13th century.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date
Tradition linked through narrative to the 13th century; the present instrument and its custodianship have their own chronology
Location
Nyagassola, Guinea
Material
living heritage and an object under community custodianship
Context
Community sanctuary in Nyagassola; no relocation is proposed. Custody: The Dökala/Kouyaté family and the community of Nyagassola, in accordance with local rules; UNESCO recognition.
Curatorial reading
The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Dossier axis
art-music
Research record
MANDE · EVI-11
Documentary coverage
1 museum source, heritage, primary corpus or research for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

THE CURRENT OBJECT

Its date is not sufficiently established to place it on the timeline. We keep it here, separate from the dated objects.

Musical instruments6 dated objects

1 / 6In the centre: Hohle Fels flute

Also connected, without a comparable date (4)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .

Custodianship also means teaching

In Nyagassola, custody corresponds to the Balatigui, patriarch of the Dökala family. The UNESCO file explains that only he can play the Sosso-Bala on certain occasions, among them Muslim New Year and funerals, and that he teaches the balafon to children from the age of seven. Safeguarding thus depends on a relationship between authority, calendar and learning. Rural exodus reduces the student body, while the locality’s material difficulties complicate continuity: protecting the instrument also requires sustaining the conditions in which new musicians can form.

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its sources

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