Issue
Gambia’s capital, Banjul, had a thriving music, dance and artistic scene which is long overdue for a revival. The lack of creative opportunities and outlets resulted in little consideration for how arts and culture can bring about socioeconomic development for young people.
Project partners
How we are helping
The grant will help the Mboka Festival of Arts, Culture and Sports to take place again and produce material and history on which to build future festival events. It will particularly support the development of skills, knowledge and achievements of young people.
About the project
Mboka Festival hopes to recapture Banjul’s past thriving cultural scene through a series of talks on cultural artforms with little known histories in The Gambia. This will be followed by workshops for those in secondary education to gain knowledge and interpret what they learn through different creative outputs including visual art, creative writing, music, and dance. The results of these workshops will be demonstrated in public showcases such as exhibitions of visual art, an online anthology and symposium, and staged music and dance performances.
Ten young people will be trained in professions such as project and event management, website development, curating and fundraising.
Project Partners
Mboka Festival focuses on how arts and a sense of shared culture can provide social change in The Gambia. For Mboka this exists in close relationship with improving locals' entrepreneurial skills, especially young people, and the potential economic benefits through art and tourism initiatives.
The National Centre for Arts and Culture celebrates The Gambia’s cultural diversity as a source of strength, recognising Gambia’s diverse communities and their traditions and the relationship between culture and development.
The Institute of Travel and Tourism of The Gambia (ITTOG) specialises in training in the travel and tourism sector, with an emphasis on travel agencies and tour operations and community-based tourism. This recognises the cultural dimension of development through arts and tourism.
We support people's participation in democracy and development by providing grants, platforms, and expertise.
