Mali to Set Up African Xylophone Museum

A museum will be built in Mali for the preservation of the balafon heritage under the joint initiative of the ministry of culture and the ministry of crafts and tourism, sources said on Tuesday.

The structure will be erected in Sikasso, in the South-Eastern part of the country that is considered to be the epicenter of the balafon, which extended beyond Mali, part of Burkina-Faso, Cote-d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin and Ghana.

The building will cost 40 million FCFA and will be supported by the “Project of support for Sources of Growth” (PASC), which is jointly funded by the Malian government, the World Bank and the private sector with an eye to achieving the highest objectives of growth thanks to tourism.

Malian authorities are expecting the museum to boost local and regional tourism through the new flows of visitors it can generate.

Sikasso, the bordering region with Burkina-Faso and Cote-d’Ivoire, is famous for its annual “Triangle du balafon” festival, which in 2001 gathered many art-based troops from the West African sub-region.

As the balafon is used in all types of celebrations, including feasts, merrymaking, burials, incantations, it has generated an immaterial background with various tunes and all sorts of melodies.

Source African Press Agency

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