Explore
What would you like to discover?
African culture, traditions, people, places, food, languages and stories…
Archive
Showing 38 results for “The Gambia”
Folklore · StoryNinki Nanka: A River of Stories
The creature that lives somewhere between the river, the mangroves and the imagination.
The Gambia · River Gambia · Mandinka, Wolof, English
Read Story
Traditions · StoryJiidaano and Korondoo: When Communities Call on the Rain
Two traditional practices that connect people, nature and generations in The Gambia.
The Gambia · Lower River Region · Mandinka
Read Story
Traditions · VideoBasket Weaving in The Gambia: The Craft That Holds Everything
Palm leaf, grass and patience. Inside one of the oldest everyday crafts in The Gambia, filmed as a basket takes shape.
The Gambia · Nationwide · Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, English
Watch
Oral History · AudioThe Story My Grandmother Never Wanted Us to Forget
An elder recounts the family history that survived three generations without ever being written down.
The Gambia · North Bank · Mandinka
Listen
Food · VideoA Recipe That Carries a Family History
Domoda, cooked the way one family has cooked it since 1962 — and why the groundnuts must be roasted twice.
The Gambia · Kanifing · Wolof
Watch
Place & History · StoryThe Meaning Behind a Village Name
Place names are compressed history. This one holds a description of the shoreline as it was two centuries ago.
The Gambia · West Coast · Mandinka
Read Story
Traditions · AudioThe Story Behind a Naming Ceremony
On the eighth day, a child receives a name — and a set of relationships that will last a lifetime.
The Gambia · Banjul · Wolof
Listen
Traditions · StoryKankurang: The Guardian of the Grove
A masked figure in red bark and leaves who walks with boys through initiation, on both sides of the Senegal–Gambia border.
Senegal · Casamance and the Senegambia region · Mandinka, Wolof, French
Read Story
Stories · AudioThe Mango Tree Recordings
Three generations of one family's history, recorded in a compound in Juffureh.
The Gambia · Juffureh, North Bank · Mandinka
Listen
Stories · AudioWhat My Mother Refused to Forget
A market trader recounts the year the river flooded and the village moved.
The Gambia · Kuntaur, Central River · Wolof
Listen
Stories · StoryLetters Never Sent
Written memory from a family separated across two coasts.
The Gambia · Banjul & Barcelona · English
Read Story
People · PortraitFatou Ceesay, Family Historian
Eighty-four years old, and the keeper of a lineage never written down.
The Gambia · Juffureh, North Bank · Mandinka
Read Story
People · PortraitThe Griot Families of Brikama
Six households whose profession is remembering.
The Gambia · Brikama, West Coast · Mandinka
Read Story
People · PortraitYoung Custodians
The women of the storytelling labs, in their own words.
The Gambia · Kanifing & Kombo · English & Wolof
Read Story
Food · RecipeDomoda, As My Aunt Makes It
Groundnut stew, cooked and narrated from start to table.
The Gambia · Serrekunda, Kanifing · Wolof
Read Story
Food · RecipeBenachin and the One-Pot Table
The dish that gave jollof its first name.
The Gambia · Banjul · Wolof
Read Story
Food · AudioWonjo, Tamarind and the Drinks of the Dry Season
What is drunk, when, and why it matters.
The Gambia · Kombo · Mandinka
Listen
Traditions · VideoThe Naming Day
Seven days after birth, a family gives a child its name and its history.
The Gambia · Banjul · Wolof
Watch
Traditions · AudioHarvest and the First Rain
Farming ritual and the calendar it keeps.
The Gambia · Upper River Region · Fula
Listen
Traditions · PhotographCloth, Colour and Meaning
What is worn, and what it says without speaking.
The Gambia · Kanifing · Wolof & Mandinka
Read Story
History · VideoThe Stone Circles
A burial landscape more than a thousand years old.
The Gambia · Wassu, Central River · Mandinka
Watch
History · StoryRiver Routes
How trade, salt and language moved along the water.
The Gambia · Along the Gambia River · English
Read Story
History · AudioNames on the Coast
What the settlements were called before, and who remembers.
The Gambia · Tanji, West Coast · Mandinka
Listen
Places · PhotographThe River at Kuntaur
Fishing, ferries and the rhythm of a working river.
The Gambia · Kuntaur, Central River · Mandinka
Read Story
Places · AudioAlbert Market, Banjul
Cloth, spice and negotiation, recorded on a Saturday morning.
The Gambia · Banjul · Wolof
Listen
Places · VideoJuffureh and Albreda
Two villages, and the history visitors come to find.
The Gambia · North Bank Region · Mandinka
Watch
Languages · AudioProverbs in Mandinka
Forty sayings, with the situations that call for them.
The Gambia · Brikama, West Coast · Mandinka
Listen
Languages · AudioWolof Greetings, In Full
The long greeting nobody shortens at home.
The Gambia · Serrekunda, Kanifing · Wolof
Listen
Languages · StoryWords With No Translation
What is lost when a term is rendered into English.
The Gambia · The Gambia · English
Read Story
Music · AudioKora Lineages
A player traces his instrument back five generations.
The Gambia · Brikama, West Coast · Mandinka
Listen
Music · AudioSongs Sung Only at Night
Recorded with the community's permission, shared with their conditions.
The Gambia · Upper River Region · Mandinka
Listen
Folklore · VideoKankurang
The masked protector, and the initiation it belongs to.
The Gambia · Kombo · Mandinka
Watch
Folklore · AudioRiddles for the Dry Season
Word games played under the moon, collected from four villages.
The Gambia · Four villages, North Bank · Mandinka & Wolof
Listen
Folklore · StoryThe Hare and the Hyena
A tale with as many endings as tellers.
The Gambia · The Gambia · Mandinka
Read Story
Experiences · ExperienceSailing the River at Sunset
A pirogue journey hosted by a fishing community.
The Gambia · Central River Region · Mandinka
Explore
Experiences · ExperienceGambian Home Cooking Day Experience
Dress as a local, visit Tanji market, and cook authentic Gambian dishes from start to table.
The Gambia · Tujereng, West Coast Region · English & Wolof
Explore
Experiences · ExperienceFestival Season
A calendar of gatherings, with the families who host them.
The Gambia · Continental · Various
Explore
Experiences · ExperienceThe Ninki Nanka Trail
Journey up the River Gambia with the communities who live beside it — boats, birds, village stays and the legend the river is named after.
The Gambia · River Gambia, The Gambia · Mandinka, Wolof, English
Explore
Cultural knowledge
Did You Know?
Short facts, objects and traditions from the archive. Tap a card to read the full entry and its source.
Cultural categories
