Evidence type: Oral tradition
In the village of Nyagassola in Guinea, a balafon about one and a half metres long is kept as a sacred object. Tradition holds that it belonged to King Sumaoro Kanté, and it is guarded by the Kouyaté griots of the Dökala family, who carry the epic of Sunjata, the founder of the Mali Empire. For the Manding peoples it stands for freedom and unity.
UNESCO first proclaimed the cultural space of the Sosso-Bala in 2001 and inscribed it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. Its short film, on UNESCO’s official channel, is at the top of this page.