Kora lute harp brought by one of the musicians in the Swiss National Exhibition’s “Black Village” or created in Geneva in 1896
West Africa, Senegal? Second half 19th century. Calabash, wood, skin, nails, leather, gut. Purchased by the Archeology Museum from the Geneva debt enforcement Office on 17 November 1896 after the bankruptcy of the
“Black Village” due to the flight of its agent, Louis Alexandre
MEG Inv. ETHAF K002204
About 200 adults and children, mostly Wolof speaking families of Senegalese-Gambian origin, some French citizens, were enrolled in the Genevan edition of the “Black Village” between May and October 1896. This was the favourite attraction of colonial times in all European cities. Theatrically staged, these families went about a precarious daily existence which was as artificial as the architecture of this transient hamlet. Births, Muslim rites, processions, water games or music entertained the Genevan crowds which had come to scrutinize the men and women exhibited. F. Morin/MEG
