Benefitting country(ies): Senegal

Overview:

This project aims to undertake an inventory of the traditional music of Senegal that encompasses a vast and diverse array of musical traditions, genres, instruments and associated craftsmanship. Its social, spiritual and cultural functions are many, including celebrations of birth, death rites, initiations, blessings, agriculture, fishing, values, and legends and myths. Large sections of Senegal’s musical heritage are poorly documented and therefore, establishing an inventory for safeguarding the heritage is an urgent task. To preserve and enhance this heritage, the project will contribute to reinvigorate the chain of transmission, while strengthening the capacity of the communities concerned to inventory and manage a database on traditional music. Specific objectives include awareness-raising and capacity building of the target communities, production of the global inventory of traditional music and associated elements, and development of a safeguarding action plan. These objectives will be achieved through in-situ workshops, creation of a documentary collection and database, and development of an action plan with stakeholders.
The project began in August 2013.

News and activities:

• 2015-03-16 – Senegal improves the safeguarding of traditional music thanks to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund
• 2015-02-12 – Financial assistance, a key mechanism for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in Africa
• 2013-08-13 – Senegal launches an inventory of its traditional music

01/07/2011 - 19/12/2014 – Traditions and practices associated with the Kayas in the sacred forests of the Mijikenda01/06/2012 - 01/12/2014 – Strengthening national capacities for effective safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti