“An Introduction to Mandé Music” Amati Talk in the Musical Instrument Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art 04/04/2021

This presentation is an introduction to some of the overarching themes in the study of music from the Mandé region of West Africa. The Mandé region refers to the geographic scope of the Mandé empire, which existed from 1235-1469 A.D. In present-day terms, this region encompasses Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, and Guinea-Conakry. As one of the most prosperous kingdoms not only on the continent but in human history, the Mandé empire had an indelible and widespread cultural impact on the wider region. Its legacy may be observed today through a set of shared cultural practices among the many ethnic groups present during the Mandé empire known simply as the Mandékan. Notably, the empire solidified a caste system which established patrilineal lines of craftspeople, known in Maninka as nyamakala. Included among the nyamakala are jeliw: musicians, instrument-builders, storytellers and genealogists. In this presentation, I will give an overview of jeliw history, performance practices and instruments from the beginning of the Mandé empire to the present.