Bissau Gallery

Senegal - Griot playing a Kora

Senegal - seated Griot playing a Kora, a 21-stringed harp lute that originated in the Gambia River valley with the Mandinko but is one of the most popular instruments in Senegal. Griots from most Mande groups in Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea, and Guinea Bissau play the kora, which has featured on a number of western recordings in recent years. A Griot is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet and/or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition, and is also often seen as something of a societal leader due to his traditional position as an adviser to royal personages. Date: circa 1910s

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection