The community and cultural centre supporting Bristol’s West African communities

The centre takes its name from a traditional instrument used by several countries across the region

What started as a group of friends looking for somewhere to meet for tea and a chat has become a thriving community and cultural centre. While it was nice to have a place to socialise, drink tea and eat food from back home, when the pandemic hit it became evident Bristol Kora Community Centre needed to offer more to the community than just a social space.

“That’s when we realised the importance of community because we had families at the time who could not even feed themselves,” said Muhamed Langley Joof, who was the secretary of the centre at the time.

Although Muhamed was living in Newport at the time, as the area manager for Tesco in Bristol he was visiting the city every day and found there were far more families living in Bristol from Senegal, The Gambia and other African countries. Speaking about the pandemic, he added: “We were bringing money together and helping families at the time.

“Something which I think is true when it comes to every African family is that we are proud to ask for help. We took it upon ourselves to visit families- we were really busy at that time, I used to go around to families dropping food.”

Now Kora, situated on Stapleton Road, has been part of the local community in Easton for five years and has a shop selling tailor-made traditional African clothing, a small cafe and a mosque at the back where local children can learn the Quran. The volunteers who run the centre organise trips and cultural events for the community and holiday activities for children.

In July they gathered for a barbecue during the Eid celebrations in St George park. Senegalese and Gambian families travelled from different parts of the UK to join the Senegalese and Gambian community in Bristol.

For a while, they have been looking for a bigger space where they can do more activities for children but as an organisation which is entirely self-funded, it hasn’t been an easy task. The current Kora president, Lamine Diop said they are able to run the centre by working collectively and pooling their resources together.

He said: “Where we come from in Senegal and Gambia we are kind of socialist - we live together and share things together. If someone doesn’t have a job we can help fill out a form for them or tell them about a job vacancy we know.

“We are doing a lot of events for kids over half-term, we put our money together so everyone can get involved. It brings the community together and it’s important for the kids to know their background and where they come from.”

Despite Senegal and The Gambia forming into two separate countries after they became independent from French and British colonisation, like many of the borders on the African continent, the separation of the two is an artificial boundary that has its historical roots in the way large parts of Africa were divided up.

Now two independent countries, the main thing that separates them is the fact that The Gambians still speak English and the Senegalese speak French. While there are several different African languages spoken in both countries, they tend to communicate in ‘Wolof’ which is the national language of Senegal and is spoken by Gambians and a significant number of people in neighbouring countries such as Mauritania and Mali.

For many who attend the centre, their mother tongue cuts across national borders and the founders wanted to make sure that the centre could be a welcoming place for everyone. The Kora itself, which has been played by African Griots for centuries, has a sound similar to a harp and is still played by African musicians today.

“When we set up Kora it wasn’t only Senegalese and Gambians among us. We have Malians, Guineans and we used to even have Sudanese people among us.

“It’s a significant instrument when it comes to Africa - its base is formed from a calabash, which our ancestors used for cooking. The strings represent different ethnic groups connecting together.”

While Kora has become an important place for African people in Bristol to connect with each other and their culture as well as a place where they can go for support, it is also a place used by those of all backgrounds. Alongside a growing number of families of mixed heritage in Bristol, Kora has musicians among their members who organise events attended by people from communities across Bristol.