Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau
Mande

Calabash, Wood, Fiber
ca. Mid 20th century

Length: 37 inches
Idiophone – Struck Directly

A 14-keyed Mande balafon on a wooden frame with calabash resonators. The balafon is a gourd-resonated xylophone, a type of struck idiophone. It is closely associated with the Mandé, Senoufo and Gur peoples of West Africa, particularly the Guinean branch of the Mandinka ethnic group, but is now found across West Africa from Guinea to Mali.