By Mustapha Jallow
The National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC), last Friday 13th January 2023, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Senegambia Diaspora for Trade and Investment Promotion Ltd or Durham (SDTIPLD) UK, to promote Gambian artists and cultures.
The signing ceremony, which took-place at the NCAC head-office in Banjul, attracted people from the Art sector such as musicians, film makers, writers, instrumentalists and so on. The MoU was jointly signed by NCAC’s Director General and a representative for SDTIPLD-UK.
The MoU provides that two organizations shall collaborate very closely in the promotion of Gambian artists and cultural associations, cooperate in the Marketing of Gambian artistic and cultural products, support each other’s effort in striving to entrench and maintain a strong cultural exchange between the Gambia and artists from other parts of the world. It also states that the Senegambia Diaspora for Trade and Investment Promotion Ltd shall support the NCAC in areas of capacity building in archaeology, music management, lighting, sound technology, stage management and similar skills in short term bases such as workshops, master classes and seminars to help build capacity in these areas.
The MoU will also allow the two organizations to share relevant information that shall improve the technical capacity and skills of both institutions in the protection and preservation of the Gambia’s rich, musical and cultural heritage, and that the two organizations shall strive to promote creativity and originality within the framework of developing the cultural tourism
The two organizations shall collaborate in the research and documentation of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the Gambia, the sub-region and rest of the world while promoting festivals, music shows and fine arts.
“I would like to thank the association for seeking to partner with the Gambian artist through the NCAC, because our artists need to perform outside (abroad), so that they will be exposed to the world and continue to be ambassadors of the Gambia,’’ said Hassoum Ceesay, Director General for NCAC.
Manjang Cham, SDTIPLD-UK’s representative, described the MoU as “historic and significant milestone”, as the MoU is the first of its kind in the arts and culture industry of The Gambia.
“We are Gambians and we have all the rights to promote our culture across the world. And it is very important nowadays that culture is gaining momentum. A man without culture, then there is a problem,” he said.
