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Papa Susso Shares Talents and Traditions

3/1/2013

Alhaji Papa Susso, a West African griot who is a keeper of West African oral and musical traditions, visited Collegiate Feb. 27 and shared his talents and insights on his life lived in two distinctly different cultures -- The Gambia and the modern world -- with Upper School students.

Papa Susso is a traditionally trained griot and master kora (harp-lute) player raised in The Gambia, West Africa, but living and working abroad. He visited with classes, demonstrating music on the 21-stringed instrument made from a calabash gourd and rosewood and cowhide and discussing his cultural role as a keeper of ancient West African traditions and his successful 21st-century life. Susso offered some interesting insights regarding the practical side of cultural transmigration, dissemination of indigenous, regional art and what it means to be a griot living and working abroad in the 21st century.

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