Kono Gnaga Research

Part of our mission at Kono Gnaga is to preserve traditional music and dance through leading research trips with local artists. Trips focus on travel to particular regions to explore cultural traditions in dance and music with the objective to carry out documentation, both written and recorded, that can be preserved, protected, and used to assist in authentic transmission through the generations.  There are many talented young artists in Bamako, yet in working with the younger generations it is clear that the information at the foundation of the dance and music is limited. The access to this information is difficult as elders that previously held this information are no longer alive and it is thus often retained by small group of people in the regions/villages.  With the rapid pace of urbanization and globalization the information is not systematically passed on to younger generations in the villages as many young people migrate to the urban centers.  This is particularly a problem in Mali with the increasing fragile security situation.  To address this issue Kono Gnaga has lead annual research trips with local artists to deepen their knowledge of the music and dance of different ethnic groups and regions.

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