By Yunus S Saliu
The Port of Harlem Gambian Education Partnership (POHGEP) is set to stage an exhibition entitled From These Shores at the Juffureh Slavery Museum, Juffureh in North Bank Region (NBR) in Destination Gambia, on Sunday, 5th March 2023.
The about-to-kick-off exhibition will celebrate the accomplishments of known and lesser-known Africans in the Diaspora across time and geography, which ranges from modern-day Moderna vaccine co-developer, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett of the United States to liberator Benkos Biohó of 16th century Colombia. And the artists range from photographer Lawrence E. Kerr of Toronto to airbrush artist Chris Meiselman, who was born in The Philippines and is currently incarcerated in the United States.
The depictions of the exhibitions will be diverse and the images will include photographs and paintings created just for the exhibition it will range from black and white photos to colorful acrylics and airbrush portraits, and the images will also reflect the diversity of the various artists.
However, Hassoum Ceesay, Director General of the National Centre for Arts and Culture in The Gambia stated that “the panels will valorize the museum. It adds a logical optimistic twist to the horrendous event that the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was.”
Wayne Young, POHGEP president, disclosed that The Port Of Harlem Gambian Education Partnership (POHGEP) created and donated the exhibit with the funds bequeathed by POHGEP board member – Kevin Turner, Esquire. Port Of Harlem magazine, an inclusive, diverse, pan-African magazine is POHGEP’s chief business sponsor.
“Tourism is a major source of revenue for The Gambia and we are ecstatic to lend another hand toward working with Ceesay by creating another educational and cultural enhancement to the Juffureh Museum,” President Wayne Young added.
According to him, POHGEP earlier donated the permanent exhibit, “West Africans in Early America,” which features Senegambian Americans such as Phyliss Wheatly and Ayuba Suleiman Diallo.
It is worth noting that the Timbooktoo Bookshop, New Bakau, Kanifing Municipal Council, The Gambia as well Mansa Kunda Restaurant in Takoma Park, Maryland USA will also display one of the twelve panels.
“The panel will help enhance the authentic Gambian experience our atmosphere and food provide our diners, “says Hatib Joof, owner of Mansa Musa.
The name of the American restaurant Mansa Kunda translates into House of the King in Mandinka, one of the eight principal languages spoken in The Gambia, on Africa’s Smiling Coast. The exhibit celebrates the nation’s language diversity by naming the exhibit in all eight languages. In Mandinka, it’s called “Kabo Nying Fankas” and on one panel the exhibit’s name is written in the N’Ko script, which is used to write in the Manding languages of which Mandinka is one of them.
