The lost script

Posted on January 13, 2010 by Matt Smith

Ajami - the lost script

An interesting article over at The Boston Globe, which explores the potential historical value of documents written in Ajami, a kind of hybrid script used in the Sudanic region of Africa from around the 10th century onwards. As Islam spread south from northern Africa, and the tribal holy men slowly converted to the Islamic religion, so they began to adapt the Arabic script to communicate the tenets of the religion to the local people whos till spoke the traditional languages such as Wolof, still spoken in The Gambia today. The result was the Ajami script, in which 1000s of documents were written – everything from travel itineraries to details of wedding plans and farming techniques – which until now have been largely ignored. As we learn more of the script and uncover more and more documents the depth of our understanding of this area of Africa could be greatly enhanced.

Bela Fleck traces the banjo’s roots in Africa

Posted on May 6, 2009 by Matt Smith

Bela Fleck in The Gambia

Bela Fleck has for many years been one of the world’s premier banjo players. In 2005 he decided to trace the banjo’s roots back to the heart of Africa – the instrument’s birthplace. It has long been thought that the banjo was introduced to the west by African slaves, who carried the instrument with them on their long tortuous journeys from the mainland. The Gambia was one of Fleck’s early stopping points where he played with a host of musicians – the results of which can be heard on the album he has recently released to celebrate his journey: Throw Down Your Heart.

There are a number of fascinating articles about Fleck’s journey, but two of the best are available at the BBC site (including a wonderful slide show of Sascha Paladino’s photographs and an audio commentary from Fleck himself) and over at Pop Matters. There is also a fantastic session at NPR featuring Fleck playing with the legendary Malian kora master, Toumani Diabate.

See also the short video below, showing a brief account of Fleck’s journey.

Independence Day in The Gambia

Posted on February 18, 2009 by Matt Smith

The Gambia Flag

The Gambia today celebrates 44 years of independence. On this day in 1965, the country became the last of Britain’s West African colonies to gain independence after 300 years of colonial rule and the Gambian flag of which the people of The Gambia are rightly so proud, replaced the Union Jack. The day is a national holiday and is marked by celebrations.

The flag will today also be seen flying on Newham Town Hall in Barking.